Novel antimicrobial nano coated polypropylene based materials for food packaging systems

Modern days, in food industry significant attention has paid to secure food quality, safety and shelf-life. Microbial growth is the major cause of food spoilage which reduces shelf life of food. Food packaging plays a major role in preserving food and maintaining the quality. Food packaging combines with antimicrobial activities are now in demand in food industry due to growing concerns on food quality. As some inorganic nano materials show extensive antimicrobial activity incorporation of them into food packaging exhibit enhanced food quality. These studies have been focused on establishing methods for preparation of antibacterial nano coating for polymer based food packaging. Nanosilver has widely been used in antimicrobial films. For this study nanosilver based polyvinyl alcohol coating was prepared on polypropylene food packaging material. Ultra Violet rays were used to contact on the polymer surface in order to enhance the adherence of nano coating to the polypropylene surface. Load required to peel off the nano coating and wetting angles of the modified surface was measured to determine the optimum Ultra Violet rays exposure time. Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) was used to optimize the crosslinking of the Coating. Presence of nanosilver particles in the developed coating was confirmed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The coating was tested against Escherichia coli. The novel nanosilver coated polypropylene food packaging showed significant the antibacterial activity. This developed antimicrobial product can be used to protect the food and reduce the waste in near future.