Recent Progress of Biodegradable Polymer Package Materials: Nanotechnology Improving Both Oxygen and Water Vapor Barrier Performance
Shuangshuang Yue,
Tianwei Zhang,
Shuanjin Wang,
Dongmei Han,
Sheng Huang,
Min Xiao,
Yuezhong Meng
Affiliations
Shuangshuang Yue
The Key Laboratory of Low-Carbon Chemistry & Energy Conservation of Guangdong Province, State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
Tianwei Zhang
The Key Laboratory of Low-Carbon Chemistry & Energy Conservation of Guangdong Province, State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
Shuanjin Wang
The Key Laboratory of Low-Carbon Chemistry & Energy Conservation of Guangdong Province, State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
Dongmei Han
The Key Laboratory of Low-Carbon Chemistry & Energy Conservation of Guangdong Province, State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
Sheng Huang
The Key Laboratory of Low-Carbon Chemistry & Energy Conservation of Guangdong Province, State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
Min Xiao
The Key Laboratory of Low-Carbon Chemistry & Energy Conservation of Guangdong Province, State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
Yuezhong Meng
The Key Laboratory of Low-Carbon Chemistry & Energy Conservation of Guangdong Province, State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
Biodegradable polymers have become a topic of great scientific and industrial interest due to their environmentally friendly nature. For the benefit of the market economy and environment, biodegradable materials should play a more critical role in packaging materials, which currently account for more than 50% of plastic products. However, various challenges remain for biodegradable polymers for practical packaging applications. Particularly pertaining to the poor oxygen/moisture barrier issues, which greatly limit the application of current biodegradable polymers in food packaging. In this review, various strategies for barrier property improvement are summarized, such as chain architecture and crystallinity tailoring, melt blending, multi-layer co-extrusion, surface coating, and nanotechnology. These strategies have also been considered effective ways for overcoming the poor oxygen or water vapor barrier properties of representative biodegradable polymers in mainstream research.