Multi-functional polyvinyl alcohol/tannin acid composite films incorporated with lignin nanoparticles loaded by potassium sorbate

The biocompatible, biodegradable and strong polyvinyl alcohol-based films have been widely investigated and used in the field of active packaging. To endow with diverse function, this paper firstly prepared lignin nanoparticles loaded with potassium sorbate (LNP@PS) as additives to exploit additional antibacterial, UV blocking, oxygen barrier, and water barrier properties. Besides, tannin acid (TA) was incorporated for compensating and further enhancing mechanical properties. Results showed that the PVA-based composite films containing 3 % LNP@PS and 5 % TA could achieve the optimal tensile strength at 74.51 MPa, water vapor permeability at 7.015·10−13·g·cm/cm2·s·Pa and oxygen permeability at 1.93 cm3/m2·24 h MPa, which was an 165 % of increase, 47 % and 112 % of reduction respectively compared to pure PVA films. Additionally, the composite films exhibited apparently superior bacteria and oxygen resistance properties evidenced by microbial infection and free radical scavenging performance. In addition, the slow-release effect of PS assisted the strawberry preservation with an extension of 3 days, which provided a promising novel route to prepare active food packaging material.