High toughness, UV & blue light shielding and antibacterial bio-based PEF/TiO2 nanowires composites for packaging application

As a candidate of fossil-based poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), bio-based poly(ethylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate) (PEF) that could be converted from renewable resources has attracted attention from academia and industry. Here, we prepare a series of new type of PEF/TiO 2 NWs composites from 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), ethylene glycol (EG), titanium dioxide nanowire (TiO 2 NWs, diameter∼100 nm, length∼20 µm) and dipentaerythritol (Di-PE) via in-situ polymerization. The TiO 2 nanowires (0.5∼10 wt‰ based on PEF) and Di-PE (3 mol‰ based on FDCA) were added as fillers and extenders. TiO 2 nanowires were distributed in the PEF uniformly, shown by SEM. Compared with pure PEF, the T g and thermal stability of all nanocomposites got improved. And the impact strength of nanocomposites could reach 60 kJ/m 2 in contrast to brittle pure PEF. The UV-A and blue-light shielding of nanocomposites increased from 53 % to 98 % and 28 % to 86 %, respectively, and the nanocomposites still maintained good gas barrier properties. Moreover, the antibacterial activity of nanocomposites against E. coli had increased to 98 %, better than that of the PEF/Ag NWs composites. By uniaxial pre-stretching, the tensile modulus and the elongation at break were improved obviously, from 1840 MPa to 5466 MPa and 4 % to 54 % respectively with pre-stretching ratio increasing. Compared to the PET/TiO 2 NWs composites, the PEF/TiO 2 NWs composites shows batter thermal property and mechanical property. The PEF/TiO 2 NWs composites exhibit potential foreground in the packaging application.