Abstract
The aim of this review is to provide an in-depth overview on the use of inorganic nano-sized entities for the generation of nanocomposite materials in the form of films and coatings for food packaging applications. According to recent trends toward “green” strategies, special focus has been dedicated to the development of nanocomposite coatings obtained using biopolymers as the main polymer matrix. After a first introductive part, the discussion has been addressed to the use of inorganic fillers, metals and metal-oxides, zeolites, and graphene. For each class of filler, a first ‘in-depth’ description of the most relevant physicochemical properties for the food packaging sector has been followed by case-by-case references to recent developments and envisaged implementations. The technical aspects that may be crucial in the design and end use of (bio)nanocomposite coatings have been covered in the last part of this work, which also includes an updated list of current applications on nano-sized inorganic fillers in the food packaging field.
Highlights
From the 60's to date, the concept of nanotechnology has developed into a multidisciplinary eld of fundamental and applied science and technology
Nanomaterials and nanoparticles have been consumed by humans for centuries, consumers' perceptions toward nanotechnology are not totally agreeable, mainly due to the still-existing uncertainties concerning the potential risks for humans and the environments associated with the use of nanomaterials for sensitive applications, such as many areas of the food industry, including packaging, nutrient delivery, and food quality.[2]
We conceived this review as guidance for tomorrow's research in the eld of nanocomposite materials, especially in the form of coatings speci cally intended for food packaging applications, with special emphasis on those solutions envisaging the use of biopolymer matrices
Summary
From the 60's to date, the concept of nanotechnology has developed into a multidisciplinary eld of fundamental and applied science and technology. Nanotechnology is generally deemed as an exciting area in which to work, allowing creativity in obtaining new materials with deliberately induced nano-sized architectures. This eld will yield new and innovative features and functions that can be pro tably exploited in everyday life. We conceived this review as guidance for tomorrow's research in the eld of nanocomposite materials, especially in the form of coatings speci cally intended for food packaging applications, with special emphasis on those solutions envisaging the use of biopolymer matrices. We have deliberately kept a discussion of the toxicological and regulatory aspects associated with the nano-dimension of the inorganic llers out of the scope of this review, as these topics have been deeply addressed in other recent works.[4,18,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33]
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