KGM/chitosan bio-nanocomposite films reinforced with ZNPs: Colloidal, physical, mechanical and structural attributes

A series of natural bio-nanocomposite films were prepared by incorporating zein nanoparticles (ZNPs) at various concentrations into a konjac glucomannan (KGM)-chitosan (CS) composite matrix. Through intermolecular hydrogen bonding interactions among the film components, the incorporated ZNPs behaved as active fillers, were well distributed and embedded in the KGM-CS composite matrix. The rheological behavior of the film-forming solutions (FFSs); moisture barrier; and mechanical, morphological and thermal properties of the bionanocomposite films showed that the incorporation of ZNPs significantly improved the properties of the resulting composite films, including their moisture resistance, mechanical properties and thermal stability. However, the overload of ZNPs may attenuate this enhancement. Thus, the reinforcement of ZNPs in composite films matrices could be considered a potential approach for developing degradable film-forming materials with excellent performance for food packaging applications. • ZNPs were incorporated into the KGM-CS composite matrix by anti-solvent coprecipitation process. • The ZNPs dispersed uniformly in both KCZ FFSs and KCZ films through strong hydrogen bonding . • ZNPs showed great compatibility with KGM and CS. • ZNPs as active nanofiller reinforced the network and performance of KGM-CS composite matrix.