Development of Films of Novel Polypropylene based Nanomaterials for Food Packaging Application

In order to design new antimicrobial nanocomposites with properties for food packaging application, films of polypropylene random copolymer (PPR), PPR/Poly--pinene (PP), PPR/clay and PPR/PP/clay were prepared by melt extrusion. Structural, morphological, mechanical, barrier, antimicrobial properties and thermal stability of the films were determined. PPR and PP always form a homogeneous system in the amorphous phase; in the binary PPR/clay system, PPR molecules intercalate the clay galleries; in the ternary PPR/PP/clay system, the miscibility between PPR and PP prevents the intercalation of the PPR macromolecules into the clay galleries. The addition of clay and PP increased the thermal stability and the tensile mechanical properties of PPR and reduced the oxygen transmission rate and the water vapor transmission rate compared with plain PPR. Films of nanomaterials containing PP provided a reduction of the test microorganisms (Escherichia coli 25922) of 24% comparing to the control (PPR/clay film). Copyright (c) 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.