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High‐Barrier, Biodegradable Food Packaging
Author(s) -
Habel Christoph,
Schöttle Marius,
Daab Matthias,
Eichstaedt Natalie J.,
Wagner Daniel,
Bakhshi Hadi,
Agarwal Seema,
Horn Marcus A.,
Breu Josef
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
macromolecular materials and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.913
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1439-2054
pISSN - 1438-7492
DOI - 10.1002/mame.201800333
Subject(s) - materials science , food packaging , polylactic acid , biodegradation , nanocomposite , composite material , coating , foil method , polyethylene terephthalate , polymer , organic chemistry , food science , chemistry
Biodegradable, high‐barrier, flexible and transparent food packaging are required to replace current multilayered, metal‐ or halogen‐containing packaging that is nonrecyclable and nondegradable. An “all‐green” solution for food packaging made of a polylactic acid (PLA) foil (25 µm) furnished with a glycol chitosan‐clay nanocomposite coating (1.4 µm) is presented here that surpasses state‐of‐the‐art high‐performance materials like metallized poly(ethylene terephthalate) or poly(vinylidene chloride) even at harsh conditions (OTR = 0.17 cm 3 m −2 day −1 bar −1 at 75% relative humidity). While the barrier side of the foil inhibits bacterial colonization, the uncoated PLA side assures biodegradability. Such a Janus feature in combination with the superb barrier performance renders this waterborne bio‐nanocomposite coating a valuable alternative to conventional less eco‐friendly food packaging materials.