In this work, a new eco-friendly method for the treatment of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) as a candidate for food packaging applications is proposed. Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) was modified by bacterial cellulose nanofibers (BC) using a melt compounding technique and by plasma treatment or zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticle plasma coating for better properties and antibacterial activity. Plasma treatment preserved the thermal stability, crystallinity and melting behavior of PHB‒BC nanocomposites, regardless of the amount of BC nanofibers. However, a remarkable increase of stiffness and strength and an increase of the antibacterial activity were noted. After the plasma treatment, the storage modulus of PHB having 2 wt % BC increases by 19% at room temperature and by 43% at 100 °C. The tensile strength increases as well by 21%. In addition, plasma treatment also inhibits the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli by 44% and 63%, respectively. The ZnO plasma coating led to important changes in the thermal and mechanical behavior of PHB‒BC nanocomposite as well as in the surface structure and morphology. Strong chemical bonding of the metal nanoparticles on PHB surface following ZnO plasma coating was highlighted by infrared spectroscopy. Moreover, the presence of a continuous layer of self-aggregated ZnO nanoparticles was demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy, ZnO plasma treatment completely inhibiting growth of Staphylococcus aureus. A plasma-treated PHB‒BC nanocomposite is proposed as a green solution for the food packaging industry.

Tailoring the surface properties of nanocellulose to improve the compatibility of components in polymer nanocomposites is of great interest. In this work, dispersions of nanocellulose in water and acetonitrile were functionalized by submerged plasmas, with the aim of increasing the quality of this reinforcing agent in biopolymer composite materials. Both the morphology and surface chemistry of nanocellulose were influenced by the application of a plasma torch and filamentary jet plasma in a liquid suspension of nanocellulose. Depending on the type of plasma source and gas mixture the surface chemistry was modified by the incorporation of oxygen and nitrogen containing functional groups. The treatment conditions which lead to nanocellulose based polymer nanocomposites with superior mechanical properties were identified. This work provides a new eco-friendly method for the surface functionalization of nanocellulose directly in water suspension, thus overcoming the disadvantages of chemical treatments.

Using plasma in conjunction with fluorinated compounds is widely encountered in material processing. We discuss several plasma techniques for surface fluorination: deposition of fluorocarbon thin films either by magnetron sputtering of polytetrafluoroethylene targets, or by plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition using tetrafluoroethane as a precursor, and modification of carbon nanowalls by plasma treatment in a sulphur hexafluoride environment. We showed that conformal fluorinated thin films can be obtained and, according to the initial surface properties, superhydrophobic surfaces can be achieved.