Temperature-Sensing Inks for Real-Time Monitoring in Food Packaging

first_page settings Order Article Reprints Font Type: Arial Georgia Verdana Font Size: Aa Aa Aa Line Spacing:    Column Width:    Background: Open AccessAbstract Temperature-Sensing Inks for Real-Time Monitoring in Food Packaging † by Liliana Leite 1,2, Luís Nobre 1,2,*, Inês Boticas 1,2, Miguel Navarro 1,2, João Bessa 1,2, Fernando Cunha 1,2, Pedro Neves 3 and Raúl Fangueiro 1,2,4 1 Centre for Textile Science and Technology (2C2T), University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal 2 Fibrenamics, Institute of Innovation on Fiber-based Materials and Composites, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimaraes, Portugal 3 José Neves & Cia., Lda., Parque Industrial de Ponte 1ª Fase, Lote F, nº 277 Guimaraes, Portugal 4 Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimaraes, Portugal * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. † Presented at the Materiais 2022, Marinha Grande, Portugal, 10–13 April 2022. Mater. Proc. 2022, 8(1), 130; https://doi.org/10.3390/materproc2022008130 Published: 12 July 2022 (This article belongs to the Proceedings of MATERIAIS 2022) Download Download PDF Download PDF with Cover Download XML Download Epub Browse Figure Versions Notes Temperature is a preponderant factor in the packaging sector. In the food industry, the temperature may change with the environment and it impacts the shelf life and food spoilage [1]. As a result, the temperature to which food has been exposed throughout distribution and storage can be used to evaluate its viability.This research aimed to develop a user-friendly system capable of monitoring the temperatures to which the packages have been exposed and generating a colorimetric response easily perceptible by the consumer/transporter. Therefore, reversible and irreversible thermochromic inks were stamped onto two different cardboard substrates typically used for packaging. In both samples, by studying the RGB color values and using the CieLab color system, it was concluded that there is a significant color change when the cardboard is subjected to different temperatures, according to the ink threshold (Figure 1). Additionally, the inks showed high abrasion (>100 cycles) and adhesion resistance after stamping.Thus, the results show great potential for the application of this technology in food monitoring and signaling a possible risk for consumption. Author ContributionsConceptualization, L.L., L.N., I.B., M.N., J.B., F.C., P.N. and R.F.; methodology, L.L, L.N., I.B., M.N. and J.B.; validation, F.C., P.N. and R.F.; formal analysis, L.L.; investigation, L.L., I.B. and M.N.; data curation, L.L., I.B. and M.N.; writing—original draft preparation, L.L. and L.N.; writing—review and editing, L.L. and L.N.; supervision, J.B., F.C., P.N. and R.F.; project administration, R.F.; funding acquisition, F.C. and R.F. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.FundingThis work was funded by P2020, under individual project SI I&DT nº POCI-01-0247-FEDER-045258.Institutional Review Board StatementNot applicable.Informed Consent StatementNot applicable.Data Availability StatementNot applicable.AcknowledgmentsThe authors gratefully acknowledge the funding by P2020, under individual project SI I&DT nº POCI-01-0247-FEDER-045258, entitled as “TechPack—Embalagens de cartão inteligentes com sistemas integrados de identificação e deteção de temperatura, microrganismos e degradação de alimentos”.Conflicts of InterestThe authors declare no conflict of interest.ReferenceWang, S.; Liu, X.; Yang, M.; Zhang, Y.; Xiang, K.; Tang, R. Review of Time Temperature Indicators as Quality Monitors in Food Packaging. Packag. Technol. Sci. 2015, 28, 839–867. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] Figure 1. Representative results for RGB color values and color change of cardboard with an irreversible thermochromic ink (threshold of 61 °C). Figure 1. Representative results for RGB color values and color change of cardboard with an irreversible thermochromic ink (threshold of 61 °C). Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Share and Cite MDPI and ACS Style Leite, L.; Nobre, L.; Boticas, I.; Navarro, M.; Bessa, J.; Cunha, F.; Neves, P.; Fangueiro, R. Temperature-Sensing Inks for Real-Time Monitoring in Food Packaging. Mater. Proc. 2022, 8, 130. https://doi.org/10.3390/materproc2022008130 AMA Style Leite L, Nobre L, Boticas I, Navarro M, Bessa J, Cunha F, Neves P, Fangueiro R. Temperature-Sensing Inks for Real-Time Monitoring in Food Packaging. Materials Proceedings. 2022; 8(1):130. https://doi.org/10.3390/materproc2022008130 Chicago/Turabian Style Leite, Liliana, Luís Nobre, Inês Boticas, Miguel Navarro, João Bessa, Fernando Cunha, Pedro Neves, and Raúl Fangueiro. 2022. "Temperature-Sensing Inks for Real-Time Monitoring in Food Packaging" Materials Proceedings 8, no. 1: 130. https://doi.org/10.3390/materproc2022008130 Find Other Styles Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here. Article Metrics No No Article Access Statistics Multiple requests from the same IP address are counted as one view.