Nanocomposite developments e enhanced
mechanical and barrier properties of food packaging
Although biopolymers are environmentally friendly and
has potential to improve the protection of food while maintaining
its safety and quality, the biggest shortcoming of
this class of materials is their weaker barrier and mechanical
properties as compared to the petroleum-based counterparts.
This shortfall prevents the use of biopolymer in many
food packaging applications. Nanocomposite technology
has been shown to be useful for enhancing material properties
of biopolymer, as well as synthetic thermoplastics
(Tables 1 and 2).
Composite materials are those that contain two or more
phases, in which one phase is the continuous phase and the
other is the disperse phase. Normally the continuous phase
is a polymer and the disperse phase is the filler or reinforcing
material. In general, nanocomposites are referring to
those comprised of a single or a mixture of polymers
with at least one organic or inorganic filler that has a
dimension lower than 100 nm. It has been reported that
the incorporation of nanoparticles such as SiO2