Carboxymethyl Cellulose/Gelatin Hydrogel Films Loaded with Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles for Sustainable Food Packaging Applications

Aqsa Zafar; Muhammad Kaleem Khosa; Awal Noor; Sadaf Qayyum; Muhammad Jawwad Saif

doi:10.3390/polym14235201

Carboxymethyl Cellulose/Gelatin Hydrogel Films Loaded with Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles for Sustainable Food Packaging Applications

Polymers (Basel). 2022 Nov 29;14(23):5201. doi: 10.3390/polym14235201.

Authors

Aqsa Zafar¹, Muhammad Kaleem Khosa¹, Awal Noor², Sadaf Qayyum², Muhammad Jawwad Saif³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, Government College University, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan.
² Department of Basic Sciences, Preparatory Year Deanship, King Faisal University, Al-Hassa 31982, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Applied Chemistry, Government College University, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan.

Abstract

The current research work presented the synthesis of carboxymethyl cellulose-gelatin (CMC/GEL) blend and CMC/GEL/ZnO-Nps hydrogel films which were characterized by FT-IR and XRD, and applied to antibacterial and antioxidant activities for food preservation as well as for biomedical applications. ZnO-Nps were incorporated into the carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and gelatin (GEL) film-forming solution by solution casting followed by sonication. Homogenous mixing of ZnO-Nps with CMC/GEL blend improved thermal stability, mechanical properties, and moisture content of the neat CMC/GEL films. Further, a significant improvement was observed in the antibacterial activity and antioxidant properties of CMC/GEL/ZnO films against two food pathogens, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Overall, CMC/GEL/ZnO films are eco-friendly and can be applied in sustainable food packaging materials.

Keywords: TGA; antimicrobial activity; food packaging; gelatin; hydrogel films.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Deanship of Scientific Research, Vice Presidency for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia (grant no. Grant1974).