Scientists have developed a natural antibacterial texture for use on food packaging to improve shelf life and reduce waste. A team of scientists from Australia and Japan created a lab-made texture that kills up to 70% ofbacteria and retains its effectiveness when transferred to plastic.
More than 30% of food produced for human consumption becomes waste, with entire shipments rejected if the growth ofbacteria is detected. Reducing waste in meat and dairy exports, as well as extending the shelf life and improving the quality, safety and integrity of packaged food on an industrial scale are some of the benefits of the research.
The research team has applied a natural phenomenon to a synthetic material.
We knew the wings of cicadas and dragonflies were very efficient at killingbacteria and could help inspire a solution, but replicating nature is always a challenge. When printed on plastic, we have created a nanotexturing that mimics the effect of insect wings. This is a big step towards a natural, non-chemical, antibacterial packaging solution for the food and manufacturing industry.
The KAITEKI Institute, Tokyo Metropolitan University, and RMIT collaborated on the research. Australia was the 5th largest exporter of food and agricultural products to Japan in 2015.
How it works.
There areblunted spikes of similar size on the wings of the dragonfly and the cicada. When the cells are torn apart by the pattern ofpillars, they are killed.
The team developed theirtexture by replicating insects and developing their own patterns. The pattern was assessed at the world-class Microscopy and Microanalysis Facility. The Japan team developed a way to reproduce the best antibacterial patterns shared with them.
In Australia, the team tested the plastic patterns and found one that is easy to scale up and replicate insect wings. The flexibility of plastic makes it more difficult to deal with than other materials. She said that the next challenge was adapting it for use on softer plastics.
Since the discovery of the killing nature of insect wings a decade ago, Ivanova and her colleagues have been working to design the optimal nanopattern to harness insects and use it on a range of materials. It was difficult to find technology that could reproduce this on a scale suitable for manufacturing.
Technology exists to scale up and apply antibacterial properties to packaging, as well as other potential applications, like personal protective equipment.
Their new research is related to using insect-inspired nanomaterials to fight superbugs. The team wants to collaborate with potential partners in the next stage of the research to determine the best ways to mass manufacture the antibacterial packaging.
More information: Denver P. Linklater et al, Nanopillar Polymer Films as Antibacterial Packaging Materials, ACS Applied Nano Materials (2022). DOI: 10.1021/acsanm.1c04251 Citation: Bacteria-shredding insect wings inspire new antibacterial packaging (2022, March 21) retrieved 21 March 2022 from https://phys.org/news/2022-03-bacteria-shredding-insect-wings-antibacterial-packaging.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
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