Food corruption and spoilage caused by food-borne pathogens and microorganisms is a serious problem. As a result, the demand for antibacterial drugs in food packaging is growing. In this review, biodegradable and non-biodegradable materials for food packaging are discussed based on their properties. Most importantly, antibacterial agents are essential to inhibit the growth of bacteria in food. To keep food fresh and prolong the shelf life, different kinds of antibacterial agents were used. The composition and application of natural antibacterial agents and synthetic antibacterial agents are discussed. Compared with natural antibacterial agents, synthetic antibacterial agents have the advantages of low cost and high activity, but their toxicity is usually higher than that of natural antibacterial agents. Finally, future development of antimicrobial food packaging is proposed. It is an urgent problem for researchers to design and synthesize antibacterial drugs with high efficiency and low toxicity.
Hybrid electrochromic materials were readily synthesized via copolymerization of aniline with p-phenylenediamine-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) in the presence of poly(styrene sulfonate) (PSS) dopant in an aqueous medium. Polyaniline (PANI)-grafted SWCNTs are formed, and they are uniformly dispersed in the PANI/PSS matrix. Impedance analysis shows that the charge-transfer resistances of the hybrids at all states are reduced drastically with increasing SWCNT loading. With 0.8 wt % SWCNTs, the charge-transfer resistances of the hybrid at +1.5 and -1.5 V are only about 20% and 12% of those of PANI/PSS, respectively, which is due to the greatly increased redox reactivity given by the enhanced electron transport in the hybrid and further doping function of the SWCNTs. The remarkable increase in redox reactivity leads to much enhanced electrochromic contrast from 0.34 for PANI to 0.47 for PANI-SWCNT-0.8%.
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