Swan-feathers inspired smart-responsive sustainable carboxymethyl cellulose/polyvinyl alcohol based food packaging film for robustly integrated Intelligent and Active Packaging

• Published in: Nano today 2024-06, Vol.56, p.102272, Article 102272
• Main Authors: Jiang, Huie, Zhao, Suqiu, Li, Zhijian, Chen, Lijuan, Mo, Haizhen, Liu, Xinhua
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Active packaging materials; Anti-counterfeiting; Food preservation; Freshness monitoring; Intelligent packaging materials
• ISSN: 1748-0132; 1878-044X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nantod.2024.102272

The integration of advanced packaging technology with innovative multifunctional bio-based materials emerges as a promising next-generation strategy to tackle two enduring challenges in food storage technology: food spoilage and counterfeiting. Inspired by the superhydrophobic properties of swan feathers, this study developed a smart-responsive, sustainable food packaging film called C-CPQ using carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The as-prepared C-CPQ film exhibited remarkable hydrophobicity and water-vapor barrier properties owing to its novel design featuring an asymmetric bionic feather-like barbed texture, representing significant advancements in CMC/PVA-based packaging materials. Additionally, C-CPQ exhibited satisfactory mechanical strength, biodegradability, and film-forming capabilities. Notably, incorporating quercetin（QR） endowed C-CPQ with exceptional pH-sensing, fluorescence, antioxidant, UV-shielding, and antibacterial properties, enabling intelligent and active food packaging. Consequently, C-CPQ exhibited UV-stimulated photochromic characteristics and fatigue-resistant food anti-counterfeiting capabilities while extending food shelf life to 5 days, surpassing conventional PE packaging by 2 days. Moreover, the integration of smartphones enabled highly sensitive, rapid, and real-time visual monitoring of food degradation under natural light. The findings of this study present promising outcomes under real-world conditions, serving as a framework for the development of sustainable, high-performance modern food packaging with comprehensive real-time visual freshness monitoring, anti-counterfeiting, and preservation functionalities. [Display omitted] •Swan-feathers-inspired C-CPQ with intelligent/active packaging origins is engineered.•C-CPQ exhibits excellent water resistance due to the bionic feather-structure design.•C-CPQ combined with smartphone provides real-time visual monitoring of food spoilage.•C-CPQ exhibits reversible fluorescent anti-counterfeiting properties.•Minced meat packed in C-CPQ film has a shelf life 2 days longer than in PE film.