Advances in Nonfouling Materials: Perspectives for the Food Industry

Abstract

Fouling of complex food components onto food-processing materials affects food quality, food safety, and operating efficiency. Developments in nonfouling and fouling-release materials for biomedical and marine applications enable the potential for adaptation to food applications; however, challenges remain. The purpose of this review is to present different strategies to prevent fouling and/or facilitate foulant removal with a critical point of view for an application of such materials on food-processing surfaces. Nonfouling, self-cleaning, and amphiphilic materials are reviewed, including an explanation of the mechanism of action, as well as inherent limitations of each technology. Perspectives on future research directions for the design of food processing surfaces with antifouling and/or fouling release properties are provided.

Design of intelligent surfaces for energy intensive processing industry

“…The development of surfaces that contain both hydrophobic and hydrophilic components so that they exhibit both anti-fouling and fouling release properties [7]. The intrinsic incompatibility between the hydrophobic and hydrophilic components results in phase segregation which leads to compositional, morphological and topographical surface heterogeneity, which makes the interaction between biomolecules and a surface energetically unfavourable [60].…”

“…Examples of amphiphilic materials included: branched fluro-polymers with polyethylene glycol (PEG) chains [62,63]; perfluroethylene and PEG [64]; polysolfone-graft-poly (ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate [65]. One issue is that many of these materials contain fluro-polymers that are present in the form of long perfluroalkyl chains, which can degrade to form toxic perfluroalkyl acids [7]. Therefore alternative compounds would need to be utilised if amphiphilic surfaces are to be applied to the food industry.…”

“…Hydrophilic polymers have been used as coatings to reduce the adhesion of fouling material [7]. As discussed earlier, the common properties of these polymers include their hydrophilic nature, electrical neutrality and being hydrogen bond acceptors (not donors) [82,83].…”

“…As discussed earlier, the common properties of these polymers include their hydrophilic nature, electrical neutrality and being hydrogen bond acceptors (not donors) [82,83]. The polymers can be applied as a simple coating to surfaces or grafted onto a surface in the form of polymer brushes [7]. The key factor that results in the reduction of fouling on hydrophilic polymers is the strong association with water molecules that can result in a hydration layer.…”

“…However, for a surface modification to be applied to an industrial setting, such as the food industry, it needs to be able to withstand high temperature for short time treatments as well as the intensity of clean in place (CIP) techniques [6]. There is also significant difficulty in comparing reports of different anti-fouling coatings/systems as the experimental conditions vary widely [7].…”