Combination of poly lactid acid zinc oxide nanocomposite for antimicrobial packaging application

Many food packages (plastic wrappers) today cannot be broken down by the environment. therefore, it is necessary to add natural substances that can make the food package decompose and be resistant to contamination with bacteria. Poly lactic acid (PLA) is one of the natural polymers produced by several bacteria that grow in crops rich in carbohydrates (such as sugar beets, corn and others). This research aims to insert ZnO nanoparticles and chitosan into a plastic layer of PLA (poly lactic acid) which can improve the antibacterial properties of the resulting packaging. The method used in making PLA-ZnO-chitosan Nano composite is the precipitation method and the heating method. PLA-ZnO Nano composites were obtained by varying ZnO nanoparticles 0.5% by weight, 2% by weight, and 3.5% by weight. The results obtained in SEM images show that nanoparticles are homogeneously distributed on the plastic surface. Antimicrobial tests show nanocomposites work effectively in deactivating E. coli and S. aureus. where it was found that E. coli was more susceptible to this type of nanocomposite, where there was a reduction of 3.4 logs to 3.5% ZnO loading in the PLA layer.