Biobased Intelligent Food-Packaging Materials with Sustained-Release Antibacterial and Real-Time Monitoring Ability

Ithas been widely accepted that sustainable polymers derived fromrenewable resources are able to replace the short-turnover petroleum-basedmaterials and reduce environmental impact in the future. However,their hydrophilic chemical structures rich with oxygen groups couldlead to easy growth of bacteria, which greatly limit their applicationsin packaging materials. Here, we present an intelligent food-packagingmaterial with sustained-release antibacterial and real-time monitoringability based on totally biobased contents. In detail, sodium alginatewith Artemisia argyi emission oil (encapsulatedin gelatin-Arabic gum microcapsules) and citric acid-sourcedpH-responsive carbon quantum dots (CQDs) are coated on bamboo cellulosepapers. The obtained biobased composite material (almost 100% biocarboncontent) with antibacterial ability is able to extend the shelf lifeof fresh shrimps and can be biodegraded. Moreover, owing to the introductionof CQDs, the composite can rapidly (within 1 s) detect slight pH variations(response pH & SIM;5, 10(-9) mol/L of OH-) through an obvious color change (hue value from 305 to 355 & DEG;).The developed strategy may open up new opportunities in the designof multifunctional biobased composites for intelligent applications.