Fully-biobased UV-absorbing nanoparticles from ethyl cellulose and zein for environmentally friendly photoprotection

Abstract

UV-absorbing nanoparticles are prepared with an entirely biobased composition, as a novel environmentally-friendly photoprotection technology.

Bio-Based Nanoparticles as a Carrier of β-Carotene: Production, Characterisation and In Vitro Gastrointestinal Digestion

“…These conditions allow the production of ethylcellulose NPs with 69 ± 2 nm and a PDI of 0.18 ± 0.04. The average size is lower than the ones presented elsewhere, for ethylcellulose NPs produced by nanoprecipitation (using acetone as solvent) [ 34 ] and high-pressure emulsification solvent evaporation [ 35 ], which obtained sizes of 163 nm and 150 nm, respectively; the same size range is obtained for NPs produced by electrospray [ 36 ] and nanoprecipitation (using ethanol as solvent) [ 37 ].…”

Nanocomposites of Bacterial Cellulose Nanofibrils and Zein Nanoparticles for Food Packaging

“…The high accumulative releases suggest that most of EM in the nanocomposites is encapsulated into the ZNs, which have been demonstrated to have the ability for controlled release of hydrophobic active cargoes. [34][35][36]38,53,54 As a result, the incorporation of ZNs loaded with EM endows the final BCN-ZN nanocomposites with the ability to sustain release of EM. DPPH radical scavenging tests was then used to evaluate the antioxidant activity of the nanocomposites made by bioactive ZN with the encapsulation of curcumin, which can be used as a natural antioxidant agent with high radical scavenging capacity.…”

“…Therefore, all-natural, green nanocomposites can be obtained on the basis of our strategy and the edibility of BC and zein proteins. Moreover, it is important to emphasize that zein nanoparticles prepared by antisolvent precipitation have been demonstrated to be able to act as a versatile nanocarrier for encapsulation, stabilization, and controlled release of a variety of hydrophobic active cargoes, such as polyphenols, antimicrobials, essential oils, and natural coloring agents. − It is therefore tempting to speculate that the combination of versatile bioactive zein nanoparticles with BC nanofibrils that display excellent mechanical properties can be used to develop a mechanically robust and multifunctional BCN-ZN nanocomposite (Figure ), which may have sustainable applications in active food packaging, biosensors, or biomedical fields. On the basis of this reasonable speculation, we then prepared the bioactive ZN suspensions by antisolvent precipitation which encapsulate three model hydrophobic cargoes including erythromycin, curcumin, and thymol (Figure S1a, SI).…”

“…The free EM within the matrix of nanocomposites may lead to the initial burst release behavior of EM. The high accumulative releases suggest that most of EM in the nanocomposites is encapsulated into the ZNs, which have been demonstrated to have the ability for controlled release of hydrophobic active cargoes. − ,,, As a result, the incorporation of ZNs loaded with EM endows the final BCN-ZN nanocomposites with the ability to sustain release of EM.…”

“…Different from most of biopolymers, zein is a water-insoluble protein because it contains over 50% hydrophobic amino acids . The antisolvent precipitation technique is generally used to fabricate the colloidal suspensions of nanoscale zein nanoparticles (ZNs), which have been demonstrated to be able to act as effective and versatile nanocarriers for encapsulation and controlled release of various hydrophobic active cargoes, such as natural polyphenols, essential oils, and antimicrobials. − Therefore, combining BCN and ZN with encapsulated bioactives to make mechanically robust and multifunctional BCN-ZN nanocomposites is an interesting concept. Here we show the facile and ecofriendly fabrication of nanocomposite structures with excellent mechanical performance and multifunctional properties by uniquely combining BCN and ZN.…”