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Oxygen Scavengers Based on Titanium Oxide Nanotubes for Packaging Applications
Author(s) -
Tulsyan Gaurav,
Richter Christiaan,
Diaz Carlos A.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
packaging technology and science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.365
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1099-1522
pISSN - 0894-3214
DOI - 10.1002/pts.2296
Subject(s) - oxygen , relative humidity , humidity , modified atmosphere , titanium oxide , oxide , titanium , chemistry , active packaging , titanium dioxide , chemical engineering , materials science , shelf life , metallurgy , food packaging , organic chemistry , food science , physics , engineering , thermodynamics
Oxygen scavengers are commonly used in packaged foods and other oxygen sensitive goods because of the advantages they offer in maintaining quality and extending shelf life. The performance of oxygen scavengers can be influenced by several conditions, such as ambient temperature and relative humidity. We recently studied oxygen scavenging at room temperature using titanium oxide nanotubes (TONT). Prior work showed that TONTs can have oxygen uptake rates of up to three orders of magnitude higher compared with commercially available iron‐based scavengers at room temperature. However, the effect of humidity was not established. This research investigates the potential of TONTs as oxygen scavengers in packaging applications such as modified atmosphere packaging as well as a colour indicator. As opposed to commercial scavengers that need water to be active, TONT performs at their best in dry conditions, making them a strong potential candidate for pharmaceutical and medical devices industries. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.