Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry, cilt.462, 2025 (SCI-Expanded)
In this study, photocatalytically active packaging materials incorporating zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles were developed and characterized. Initially, a purity analysis of the ZnO nanoparticles was conducted, followed by determining their minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) against Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Aspergillus niger under both UV–visible light and dark conditions. Then films were prepared using chosen concentrations of ZnO and chitosan, and their physical and chemical properties, including thickness, colour, moisture content, moisture absorption capacity, hydrophobicity, were investigated. The film with optimal properties, containing 0.2 % ZnO and 1.5 % chitosan, was selected for further analysis considering desirability function for optimizing film composition. Additionally, films containing 0.1 % ZnO and 0.3 % ZnO were investigated. The largest inhibition diameter for A. niger was observed in films containing 0.3 % ZnO in incubation under light. E. coli O157:H7 did not grow on contact surface of the films. This film exhibited successful degradation of methylene blue solution, decreased water solubility with increasing ZnO concentration, and effective antimicrobial activity against both E. coli O157:H7 and A. niger. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns indicated the presence of ZnO nanoparticles in the films, while Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra confirmed the organic bond structure of the films. In the photocatalytic experiment, the produced films, including ZnO nanoparticles between 1 % and 3 %, exhibit strong photo-degradation activity of 87.94 % and with a reaction rate constant (k) between 55.1 × 10-4 and 81.3 × 10-4h−1 (33.06 × 10-2 and 48.78 × 10–2 min−1). Overall, the results suggest that these photocatalytic active packaging materials could be promising for various applications, particularly in food packaging, due to their antimicrobial and photocatalytic properties.