Abstract
This work reports the modification of Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fibers by coupling to thiosemicarbazones to achieve the biological activity for the applications in the food product packaging. After modification, seven thiosemicarbazone compounds were synthesized. The as-synthesized thiosemicarbazone compounds were bonded to PAN fibers via covalent coupling, which was confirmed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy. The mean graft efficiency of the compounds was about 1.92%, and the antibacterial efficiency was 88.6% and 45.1% against Staphylococcus aureus (S-aureus) bacteria. All the seven thiosemicarbazone compounds exerted excellent tyrosinase activity, low cytotoxicity, excellent metal ion chelation ability, and anti-bacterial behavior against both gram-positive and negative bacteria. The mechanical properties of the fibers have been maintained without significant damage after the chemical modification. The break strength test and elongation at the break test were done to measure the fracture strength of the modified fibers. Overall, the promising properties of the modified PAN fibers show potential applications in food packaging materials for fruits and vegetables, which require long-term anti-browning effects during their transportation and storage.
Highlights
Thiosemicarbazone compounds have attracted great interests in the field of biology because they demonstrate a potential contribution in a wide array of pharmacological applications, such as anti-bacterial, fungal-proofing, and tyrosinase inhibitory effects
Thiosemicarbazone derivatives or macrocyclic compounds with different structures were formed by different substituents on the thiosemicarbazone and other characteristic organic substances [2]
The thiosemicarbazone compounds were synthesized following a previously reported method [15], and the schematic equation is presented in Scheme 1
Summary
Thiosemicarbazone compounds have attracted great interests in the field of biology because they demonstrate a potential contribution in a wide array of pharmacological applications, such as anti-bacterial, fungal-proofing, and tyrosinase inhibitory effects. They can be used for developing anti-melanogenic compounds in skin-whitening cosmetics products and browning resistant agents for foods [1]. The compounds showed low cytotoxicity and good metal ion chelation and showed excellent biological activity and high efficiency. They inhibited tyrosinase activity of the modified PAN fibers finds potential applications [3]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
