COATING OF ZnO NANOPARTICLES ON CARDBOARD FOR FOOD PACKAGING APPLICATION

摘要

The most common type of packaging is a cardboard box. As one of the main packaging materials in medical and food industry, cardboard is capable to bacterial pollution. Therefore, coated cardboard with antibacterial properties of ZnO nanoparticles could be an alternative to other food conservation approaches. In this work, the ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized by precipitation technique using NaOH as precipitating agent and zinc nitrate as zinc source in aqueous solution. Then, the nanoparticles layer was successfully coated onto the surface of cardboard using ultrasonic radiation. The products are characterized using XRD analysis and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In addition, characterization of ZnO nanoparticles is performed by UV-Vis spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The antibacterial activity of the covered cardboard in contrast to Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus was measured by agar diffusion method. It was found that the coated cardboard shows perfect antibacterial activity against both S. aureus and E. coli. This work displays the possible use of the covered cardboard as a food antibacterial packing material for longer shelf life.