Physicochemical and optical activity of chitosan based ternary nanocomposites for food packaging applications

Chitosan (CS)-based ternary bionanocomposite materials have applications in the food packaging industry owing to their excellent properties. We fabricated chitosan/polyvinyl alcohol/graphene oxide (CS/PVA/GO) ternary bionanocomposites for food packaging using an environmentally friendly approach involving solution casting and solvent evaporation method. The physiochemical characteristics of the prepared ternary bionanocomposite films were elucidated using FTIR, Raman, XRD, TGA, DSC, FE-SEM, UV–visible, PL, and CD analysis. The viability assay revealed that the bio-based nanocomposite films are superior to native CS and PVA films. Water uptake and porosity of bionanocomposite films were evaluated. Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) were used to evaluate the shelf-life-enhancing capability of the CS/PVA/GO composite. The results indicate that the biocompatible and eco-friendly CS/PVA/GO bionanocomposites are promising for food packaging applications.