Barrier properties of corn zein nanocomposite coated polypropylene films for food packaging applications

TLDR: The feasibility of corn zein nanocomposite (CZNC) coatings as an alternative to synthetic polymer barrier layer on polypropylene (PP) films was examined in this article.

About: This article is published in Journal of Food Engineering.The article was published on 2013-02-01 and is currently open access. It has received 117 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Oxygen permeability & Nanocomposite.

Figures

Fig. 5. Water vapor permeability (WVP) values of CZNC-PP films (in columns – left y-axis) and single CZNC layers (curve – right y-axis).

Table 3 Water vapor permeability (WVP) values of CZNC-PP films prepared by OMMT in corn zein coating layer.

Table 1 The measured thicknesses of CZNC coated PP films and single CZNC coatings according to OMMT content.

Table 4 Models together with formulas and assumptions applied to experimental oxygen and water vapor permeability data of single CZNC layers.

Fig. 6. Permeability models fitted to experimental oxygen and water vapor permeability data, aspect ratios found for best fitting models were also reported.

Table 5 Initial contact angles measured for CZNC-PP samples.

Frequently asked questions

Q1. What contributions have the authors mentioned in the paper "Barrier properties of corn zein nanocomposite coated polypropylene films for food packaging applications" ?

Tel.: +90 232 750 6651 ; fa E-mail address: fundatihminlioglu @ iyte. edu. tr ( F. T The feasibility of corn zein nanocomposite ( CZNC ) coatings as an alternative to synthetic polymer barrier layer on polypropylene ( PP ) films was examined. 

Q2. What is the effect of layered silicate platelets on oxygen barrier?

Impermeable layered silicate platelets interrupt the movement of permeating gas or water vapor molecules and force the molecules to change their direction, resulting in longer permeation path followed. 

Q3. Why did corn zein coating reduce the contact angle of the film surface?

Zein coating reduced the contact angle of the film surface from 88.90 to 54.25 , respectively due to more hydrophilic nature of corn zein. 

Q4. What is the effect of nanofiller incorporation on oxygen permeability of CZNC?

Since no nanocomposite structure exists in substrate films, it is obligatory to follow the effect of nanofiller incorporation on oxygen permeability for single CZNC layers. 

Q5. What is the effect of layered silicates on water vapor permeability?

Layered silicates; when effectively distributed in the polymer matrix, creates impermeable obstacles to permeating water vapor molecules. 

Q6. How many scans were obtained from the FTIR spectrometer?

Spectra of Cloisite 10A OMMT and analysis of prepared films below 650 cm 1 wave numbers were obtained by using a FTIR spectrometer (Shimadzu FTIR 8201) by averaging 64 scans with a resolution of 4 cm 1. 

Q7. What is the effect of layered silicates on the performance of polymers?

Effective delamination and dispersion of nanofillers allows utilization of enormous surface area of layered silicates available for bonding with the polymer matrix. 

Q8. What is the effect of FTIR on the structure of a layered silicate?

Better dispersion of layered silicate nanoplatelets are expected to give rise to the available number of bonding sites with the matrix. 

Q9. What are the advantages of layered silicate nanocomposites?

Layered silicate nanocomposites (LSNC), were successfully used to improve properties of synthetic polymers and are currently being put in use by food packaging industry (Lange and Wyser, 2003). 

Q10. What are the main reasons why biopolymers are being studied?

Biopolymers are drawing attention of many researchers especially because of their petroleum independent sources and eco-friendliness. 

Q11. How many volume fractions of layered silicate were calculated?

The volume fractions of layered silicate in nanocomposites (/) were calculated by using the Eq. (4), where qc, qp and Mc denote for density of nanoclays, density of corn zein polymer, and mass percentage of nanoclays in the polymer matrix, respectively./ ¼ 1 1þ ðqcð1 McÞ=ðqpMcÞÞ 

Q12. What is the effect of a layered silicate on the water vapor permeability?

Similar decrease trends in oxygen and water vapor permeability data can be followed for CZNC coating layers (Figs. 4 and 5) Depending on the degree of layered silicate nanoclay delamination in the polymer matrix, oxygen and water vapor permeability decreases due to more tortuous path required to be traveled by the permeant molecules. 

Q13. What was the spectral analysis of the CZNC coated PP films?

The analysis were conducted from CZNC coated side of the films and no peak belonging to corn zein or PP was observed in the scanned diffraction angles between 2h = 1.7–8 for samples prepared by using organomodified nanoclays. 

Q14. What is the effect of a layered silicate exfoliation on oxygen barrier?

Increased oxygen barrier of the CZNC layers can be interpreted as a result of layered silicate exfoliation in the corn zein matrix.