Regulating dispersion of OEO Pickering emulsion to construct smart antibacterial nanocellulose packaging films contained microcapsule

The dispersion form of Pickering emulsions in the film-forming emulsion dominates the structure and property of films. In this study, the dispersion of oregano essential oil (OEO) Pickering emulsion in the cellulose nanofiber (CNF) were regulated to construct the smart antibacterial packaging films. The emulsion droplets rapidly layered and uniformly aggregated at the top of the film-forming emulsion (CNF 0–0.001 wt%), showed layered form. The droplets flocculated and aggregated through the depletion flocculation of the CNF (0.005–0.1 wt%), showed depletion flocculation form. The emulsion stabilized through depletion stabilization of CNF (0.2 wt%), the droplets distributed uniformly and the particle size increased, showed depletion stabilization form. The film-forming emulsion (CNF 0.3–0.8 wt%) gelled, showed gel stabilization form. The emulsion droplets formed core-shell microcapsules in the Packaging films and the films responded the stimulation of pH to smart control OEO release, and had good barrier and mechanical properties, showing the attractive application prospect in food preservation.