The nano antibacterial composite film carboxymethyl chitosan/gelatin/nano ZnO improves the mechanical strength of food packaging

• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.08.005
• Publication Date: 2022-08-09T01:31:56Z
• Authors: Jian Chen; Lichun Luo; Congnan Cen; Yanan Liu; Huan Li; Yanbo Wang
• Keywords: Chitosan; Food Packaging; Water; 02 engineering and technology; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Nanocomposites; 3. Good health; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; Escherichia coli; Solvents; Animals; Gelatin; Zinc Oxide; 0210 nano-technology

The carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS)/fish skin gelatin (Gel) based novel nanocomposite film was developed with nano ZnO for potential food packaging applications. The SEM and FT-IR results indicated that the nano ZnO was success composited with CMCS/Gel film. The X-ray diffraction result revealed that the total crystallinity of the CMCS/Gel/nano ZnO achieved 94.92 %, improving the crystallinity of the original substrate. Compared with CMCS/nano ZnO and Gel/nano ZnO, the water solubility of CMCS/Gel/nano ZnO decreased to 23 %. Moreover, its contact angle reached 91°, representing that the composite film showed better solvent resistance and can be widely used in food packaging, especially in foods with high water content. After nano-ZnO was compounded with CMCS/Gel film, the physical properties were further improved. Furthermore, CMCS/Gel/nano ZnO has higher elasticity and ductility than CMCS/nano ZnO and Gel/nano ZnO. For food packages, CMCS/Gel films incorporated with nano ZnO depicted strong against Escherichia coli (99.20 %) and Staphylococcus aureus (84.70 %) for food packages. The CMCS/Gel film with the addition of ZnO was optimal for producing nanocomposite films with higher water-insolubility, elasticity and ductility, and higher antibacterial properties.