Introducing graphene quantum dots in decomposable wheat starch-gelatin based nano-biofilms

Abstract

This research aims to discover a viable substitute for the common harmful plastic packaging utilized in food products. Citric acid was employed as an accessible and risk-free precursor in synthesizing graphene quantum dots (GQDs). Using the efficient carbonization technique, GQDs were obtained and subsequently transferred to nano-biofilms in varying percentages relative to natural polymers. FT-IR, XRD, FE-SEM, EDX, and AFM analyses were conducted to examine the formation of the nano-biofilms. GQDs demonstrated optimal performance in the disk diffusion method and the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical approach. Adding GQDs to starch and gelatin composite improved the physical properties of nano-biofilms such as moisture contact, swelling index, and solubility. The transparency of the films was reduced by GQDs, which reduces the transmission of visible light and plays an important role in food protection. The packaging films' weight loss due to decomposition was examined after being buried in soil for 50 days, which relieved the eco-concerns of these packaging films. To evaluate the performance of the films in inhibiting food spoilage, cherries, and cucumbers were packed with a control film and the fabricated film containing 14 wt% of GQD. After 14 days, the modified nano-biofilm was able to maintain the freshness of the samples.

Quantum dots as advanced nanomaterials for food quality and safety applications: A comprehensive review and future perspectives

“…Carbon-based QDs CDs Photoelectric properties, antibacterial properties, drug loading Detection of food analytes (Paydar et al, 2022), active packaging (Khoshkalampour, Ghorbani et al, 2023), intelligent packaging (Liu et al, 2022), nanocarriers (Shu et al, 2017) GQDs Photoelectric properties, antibacterial properties, drug loading Detection of food analytes (Orachorn & Bunkoed, 2021), active packaging (Bakeshlouy Afshar et al, 2024), nanocarriers (Ghanbari et al, 2021) Cadmium-based QDs CdS QDs Photoelectric properties, antibacterial properties Detection of food analytes (He et al, 2022), active packaging (Grzebieniarz et al, 2021) CdSe QDs Photoelectric properties, antibacterial properties, drug loading Detection of food analytes (Li, Wen et al, 2022), nanocarriers (Yang et al, 2017) CdTe QDs Photoelectric properties, antibacterial properties Detection of food analytes (Liang et al, 2022), intelligent packaging (Fu, Wu et al, 2020) Zinc QDs ZnO QDs Photoelectric properties, antibacterial properties, drug loading Detection of food analytes (Sahoo et al, 2018), active packaging (Schmitz et al, 2020), nanocarriers (Flora et al, 2023) ZnS QDs Photoelectric properties, antibacterial properties Detection of food analytes (Sajwan et al, 2021), active packaging (Shojaeiarani et al, 2022) ZnSe QDs Photoelectric properties, antibacterial properties Detection of food analytes (Jayalakshmi et al, 2024) Silicon QDs SiQDs Photoelectric properties, antibacterial properties, drug loading Detection of food analytes (Na et al, 2019), intelligent packaging (Sun et al, 2023) synthesized ionic liquid-organophilic CDs (IL-OCDs) through a hydrothermal method using imidazolium ILs as precursors and regulators to change the properties of the CDs (Figure 4a). Results demonstrated that IL-OCDs, as nanocarriers and delivery systems, showed a loading ratio of up to 69.2% for curcumin.…”

Enhanced dye removal using montmorillonite modified with graphene quantum dots in sustainable salep nanocomposite hydrogel

“…This two-dimensional structure restricts electronic transport in all three spatial dimensions. GQDs possess small dimensions, with a diameter of less than 20 nm (< 20), allowing them to trap excitons effectively 42 .…”