Carboxymethyl Cellulose (CMC) Based Electrospun Composite Nanofiber Mats for Food Packaging

Abstract

Cellulose is one of the most abundantly available natural polymers. Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) belongs to the cellulose family and has different degrees of substitution. Current research comprises the fabrication and characterization of CMC nanofibers using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as capping agents and carriers for sustainable food packaging applications. Recently authors successfully fabricated smooth and uniform nanofibers of stated polymers and optimized the ratios of three polymers for continuous production. However, in this research, it was further characterized for mechanical properties, surface properties, structural properties, air permeability, and chemical properties to confirm the suitability and scope of tri-component nanofibrous mats in food packaging applications. Different fruits and vegetables were packed in a plastic container and closed by nanofiber mats and by a plastic lid. All samples were observed after a specific period of time (fruits were kept for 40 days while vegetables were kept for 10 days in the controlled environment). It was observed in the results that fruits and vegetables closed by nanofiber based webs exhibited better freshness and lower accumulation of moisture as compared to that of containers with plastic lids. From the results of performed tests, it was observed that nanofiber mats possess enough mechanical, structural, and morphological properties to be used as food packaging.

Electrospun Poly(ethylene Terephthalate)/Silk Fibroin Composite for Filtration Application

“…Measuring the diameters of nanofibers is one of the important tools to assess the uniformity of mats [ 77 ]. Therefore, mean averages of fiber diameters were calculated from 100 individual fibers for each sample.…”

Recent Advancements in Plastic Packaging Recycling: A Mini-Review

“…A gradual switch to biobased plastics has been witnessed by the increasing use at an industrial level of alternative raw materials [10,11] such as polylactic acid (PLA) [12], polybutyl succinate (PBS) [13,14], polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) [15][16][17], and polyethylene furanoate (PEF) [18][19][20], together with different composite materials produced from starch [21][22][23][24], CMC [25][26][27][28][29][30], wood [31,32], lignin [33,34], and many different agro-industrial wastes [35][36][37].…”

UV‐Shielding and Clusteroluminogenic Cellulose‐Based Films with Tuneable Wettability and Permeability for Dually Self‐Indicating Food Packaging

“…[ 4 ] The one containing norbixin has successfully preserved the activity of vitamin B2 stored under a photooxidative environment. [ 4 ] Similar success in food preservation has been achieved by Hashmi and co‐workers, [ 5 ] who have generated electrospun composite nanofiber mats by using carboxymethyl cellulose and have effectively preserved the freshness of stored fruits and vegetables. All these have demonstrated the versatility and diversity of films developed for food applications.…”