Influence of incorporation of ZnO nanoparticles and biaxial orientation on mechanical and oxygen barrier properties of polypropylene films for food packaging applications

Abstract

In this work, the effect of zinc oxide (ZnO) concentration and shape on processing and properties of new biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP)-ZnO nanocomposites was studied. The use of spherical nanoparticles and nanorods was expected to differently influence the properties of the final material. Films of isotactic polypropylene prepared with different ZnO incorporation were biaxially oriented under conditions of temperature and strain rate that were similar to those encountered in a commercial film process. Scanning electron microscopy analysis was performed to visualize the dispersion degree of the ZnO nanoparticles in the polymer matrix and to observe the surface and the orientation of the elongated nanoparticles. Furthermore, the prepared ZnO-BOPP nanocomposites were evaluated for both mechanical and oxygen barrier property enhancement. A good combination of mechanical and oxygen barrier properties was obtained for the ZnO-BOPP films. This result makes the ZnO-BOPP nanocomposite a proper material for applications such as food packaging.

Effects of poly(ethylene oxide) and ZnO nanoparticles on the morphology, tensile and thermal properties of cellulose acetate nanocomposite fibrous film

“…With respect to the DSC results, the ZnO NPs may have facilitated the orientation of the PEO polymer chains. The role of NPs in improving the mechanical properties of fibers, which was attributed to polymer chain orientation, have similarly been discussed by Lepot et al, 6 Lee et al 29 and Xia et al 30 …”

“…The incorporation of metal nanoparticles (NPs) into polymer film matrices has been noted as the most promising method of achieving the latter goal. [1][2][3][4][5][6] The NPs offer an antimicrobial ability because of their extremely small particle sizes, which provide an extraordinarily high ratio of surface area to volume or surface area to weight as well as an innumerable number of active surfaces. Zinc oxide (ZnO) has been reported as an interesting potential substance for use in foods in antimicrobial applications.…”

“…2 The most relevant form of ZnO NPs for such applications is referred to as a 'nanocomposite' . 1,4,6,7 Natural or bio-based materials have been developed to replace non-biodegradable polymeric packaging to address the serious problem of global warming. Cellulose acetate (CA) has attracted considerable attention as an environmentally friendly polymer for natural/bio-based packaging.…”

“…14 In particular, ZnO NPs have also been exploited as a functional nanofiller to improve the mechanical properties of CA films. 6,15 As previously discussed, nanotechnology is now used to produce materials with extremely high surface-to-mass and surface-to-volume ratios. Electrospinning is a well-known technique for the preparation of organic-inorganic hybrid fibers with diameters that range from the micrometer to the nanometer scale.…”

Estimation of Gas Permeation Characteristics of Ultrahigh Barrier Edge Sealing Materials from Asymptotic Solution of Diffusion Equation

“…The diffusion equation is solved analytically and numerically, and the asymptotic behavior is discussed in detail. Gas permeation through polymer composites has been studied for long time [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] , but its analysis has been based on the assumption of the steady state. Since the steady state is not reached within the device lifetime during the normal operation of gas barrier edge seals for organic electronics, as discussed in the following, the present results significantly differ from those of previous studies and various implications can be discussed.…”