Preparation and characterization of PVA/arginine chitosan/ZnO NPs composite films

In this study, arginineated chitosan (ACS) was used as a soft brain membrane and chelating agent to synthesize ACS-ZnO NPs, and then ACS and ACS-ZnO NPs were added to a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix as an antimicrobial agent to form films by casting. The formation and structural morphology of ACS and ACS-ZnO NPs were investigated by applying FTIR, 1 H NMR, XRD, EDS, SEM, and TEM techniques, and ACS has shown better water solubility. The cytotoxicity experiments of ACS and ACS-ZnO NPs on A549 cells showed that both had good cytocompatibility. The incorporation of ACS and ACS-ZnO NPs improves the composite film's mechanical properties, water barrier, and oxygen barrier and exhibits excellent antibacterial activities against S. aureus and E. coli . More importantly, in addition to extending the shelf life of cherry tomatoes, the composite film is also biodegradable to some degree. Therefore, polyvinyl alcohol films based on ACS and ACS-ZnO NPs added as antimicrobial agents have great potential for food packaging applications.