Abstract
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In the current work, antimicrobial bionanocomposite films were fabricated based on chitosan (CS), poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and nanocomposites comprised of silicon dioxide nanoparticles doped with zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-SiO2). The ZnO-SiO2 nanocomposite was prepared and incorporated into a PVA/CS blend at different ratios (0.50, 1.0, 3.0 and 5.0 %) to generate the PVA/CS/ZnO-SiO2 bionanocomposites. The prepared ZnO-SiO2 nanocomposites as well as the PVA/CS/ZnO-SiO2 bionanocomposite films were evaluated using SEM, FT-IR, XRD and determination of the final contact angle. Furthermore, the mechanical properties, gas permeability (GTR) and water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) of the prepared PVA/CS/ZnO-SiO2 bionanocomposite films were evaluated. The fabricated bionanocomposite films displayed superior antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria (staphylococcus aureus, S33R) as well as Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, IRAQ 3). Correspondingly, the prepared PVA/CS/ZnO-SiO2 bionanocomposites were used for bread packaging. The obtained result revealed the greatly improved visual appearance of the bread that was packaged in the PVA/CS/ZnO-SiO2 bionanocomposite film. Moreover, the totality of these various observations and testing methods led to an increase in the shelf life and reduced the amounts of food-borne pathogens in the packaged bread. This PVA/CS/ZnO-SiO2 bionanocomposite film is an antimicrobial packaging material that may reduce the current negative environmental footprint of packaging materials.