Chemical modification of TiO2 with essential oils for its application in active packaging

The surface of titanium dioxide (TiO2) was chemically modified to take advantage of the functional groups of cinnamon essential oil (CEO) by two different proposed methods. The first one consisted basically in an impregnation (M1) and the second one by the addition of Tween 80 (M2). These particles were added to the polymeric matrix of PLA (polylactic acid), therefore were evaluated their chemical, mechanical and physical properties on particles and films. Inhibition to the free radical DPPH of 63.43%25 and 45.24%25 was obtained by the method 1 and 2, respectively, in order to confirm the antioxidant capability of modified particles. The effects of the modified particles on the polymer matrix indicated that the water vapor permeability was reduced, as well as the dissipation energy, furthermore solubility, contact angle and tensile strength and the elongation percentage were increased, getting as result more flexible films, nevertheless did not significantly modify the PLA structure and thickness of them. The films morphology through SEM showed that the modified particles were dispersed homogeneous without cracks or fissures. The analysis through of AFM indicated that the microstructure of the PLA surface was significantly affected when the particles were added. These results suggest that TiO2 and CEO can be used for the fabrication of active packaging. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

VIVO