Journal
POLYMER BULLETIN
Volume 79, Issue 7, Pages 5019-5040Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s00289-021-03763-1
Keywords
Food packaging; Biodegradable; Antibacterial; Graphene oxide; Mechanical properties
Categories
Funding
- National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The research conducted a comparative study on biodegradable membranes based on PVA, St, GO, and rGO for enhanced antibacterial and mechanical properties. By incorporating different concentrations of GO and rGO, two exceptional membranes were identified, prolonging the shelf life of gooseberries effectively.
The research encompasses on a comparative study of biodegradable membranes based on poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), starch (St), graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) for food packaging application. Four different concentrations, i.e., 10, 20, 30 and 40 mg, of GO and rGO were incorporated in membranes using in situ and ex situ reduction technique. The aim was to enhance the antibacterial and mechanical properties of PVA/St membranes. PVA/St membranes having 20 mg of in situ reduced graphene oxide (PVA/St/IrGO20) exhibited an exceptional tensile strength of 22.719 MPa and outstanding antibacterial activity, i.e., 38.89 +/- 0.23 mm and 37.52 +/- 0.41 mm, against Escherichia coli and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, respectively. The membranes were also analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). SEM results revealed the dense morphology for all membranes. FTIR results displayed the successful synthesis of GO, rGO and nanocomposite membranes. The TGA showed that IrGO membranes were more stable as compared to neat and graphene oxide membranes. Moreover, the membranes degraded completely after being buried in the soil. Among all the synthesized membranes, PVA/St/IrGO20 and PVA/St/XrGO10 (PVA/St containing 10 mg ex situ reduced GO) exhibited excellent barrier against water vapor and oxygen transmission. Therefore, they prolonged the shelf life of packed gooseberries as compared to all formulated membranes.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available