Over the past decades, textile has become one of the largest increasing waste streams globally due to the growing demand for fast fashion and consumption. In our previous work, the possibility of directly extracting cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) from textile waste has been demonstrated. Herein, this study aims to develop functional nanofillers from recycled CNCs for active packaging materials. Particularly, CNCs were extracted from cotton textile waste via sulfuric acid hydrolysis and functionalized with methacrylamide. Cellulose acetate (CA) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) were selected as model film-forming agents, and the modified CNCs (MAM-CNCs) were incorporated by the solution casting method. The addition of MAM-CNCs significantly improved the mechanical and UV barrier properties of CA and PVC films. Moreover, the composite films exhibited excellent antibacterial efficacy against common foodborne bacteria such as S. aureus and E. coli. For example, after 1 h of contact, the CA films with 3% MAM-CNCs caused 6.29-log reduction of S. aureus and 6.37-log reduction of E. coli, while the PVC films with the same amount of MAM-CNCs resulted in 6.37-log reduction of S. aureus and 6.44-log reduction of E. coli. It was worth noting that this antibacterial capacity was rechargeable without affecting the mechanical performance of plastic films. Therefore, this work reveals the potential of utilizing modified CNCs as multi-functional nanofillers (e.g. reinforcing & antibacterial) in various packaging materials.

Modification of cellulose nanocrystals recycled from cotton textile waste as antibacterial nanofillers for active packaging

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.