Ecofriendly bioactive film doped CuO nanoparticles based biopolymers and reinforced by enzymatically modified nanocellulose fibers for active packaging applications

The objective of the current work was to prepare the active packaging bioactive films based on biodegradable Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate (PBAT) containing copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO-NPs) by 2% and various loadings of enzymatically prepared nanocellulose fibers (ENC) to improve the bioactive film mechanical properties. The fabricated Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate, nanocellulose fibers and copper oxide nano -particles formula (PBAT/ENC@CuO-NPs) bioactive films were evaluated using ATR-FTIR, XRD, TEM, SEM and TGA mechanical properties. Moreover, the oxygen transmission rate (OTR) and water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) of the attained PBAT/ENC@CuO-NPs bioactive films were assessed. The fabricated bioactive films exhibited good thermal stability as well as superior antimicrobial activity contrary to Gram-positive & Gram-negative bacteria, unicellular fungus and filamentous fungus. The obtained results displayed that the incorpo-ration of ENC and dispersion of CuO-NPs in the PBAT matrix enhanced the biodegradation and the antimicrobial activities as well as the mechanical properties. The present study offers very promising materials for sustainable PBAT-based biodegradable and antimicrobial films for prospective applications in food packaging applications.

Automated summary

The study aimed to enhance the mechanical properties and antimicrobial activity of active packaging bioactive films based on PBAT by incorporating nanocellulose fibers and copper oxide nanoparticles. The results showed improved biodegradation, antimicrobial activity, and mechanical properties with the addition of ENC and dispersion of CuO-NPs in the PBAT matrix, offering promising materials for sustainable biodegradable and antimicrobial films for food packaging applications.