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Paper Details


Title
Sodium alginate/polyvinyl alcohol/ZnO nanoparticles incorporated konjac extract for active food packaging

Author
, Subash C. B. Gopinath,

Email

Abstract

Conventional plastic packaging leads a long-term pollution and a lack of biodegradability. To overcome this issue, materials based on biopolymers and nanotechnology are being developed. Bionanocomposite films represent a notable growth in active food packaging, offering enhanced mechanical, antimicrobial, and barrier properties compared to conventional packaging materials. In this work, bionanocomposite films were produced by incorporating green-synthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles using konjac extract (KZnO) into sodium alginate (SA) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrices via the solution casting method. The bionanocomposite films were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX) techniques. XRD validates the existence of zinc oxide with konjac extract (KZnO) in the bionanocomposite films, while the FTIR spectrum supports the matrix filler interaction. The morphology of the bionanocomposite films and filler is examined through SEM images. Functional evaluations revealed that the incorporation of KZnO significantly improved film performance. The tensile strength of the film increased from 58.42 to 64.22 MPa. The water vapor transmission rate decreases from 1.85 to 0.74 g/m2h with increasing KZnO content. The soil degradability of the bionanocomposite film is improved by 33% with 15% KZnO. Additionally, the bionanocomposite film exhibits enhanced inhibition zones against Candida albicans from 18 to 25 mm and Aspergillus flavus from 19 to 23 mm, indicating strong microbial activity. These findings suggest that the SA/PVA/KZnO bionanocomposite film holds potential for food packaging applications.


Keywords

Journal or Conference Name
Polymer Bulletin

Publication Year
2025

Indexing
scopus