BİYOBAZLI NANOKOMPOZİTLER VE GIDA AMBALAJLAMADAKİ UYGULAMALARI.

There is growing interest in developing bio-based polymers to reduce the use of conventional nonbiodegradable petroleum-based plastics because of their adverse effect on environment. However, biopolymers usually have poor mechanical and barrier properties, which may be improved by adding reinforcing agents with at least one nanoscale dimension (nanoparticles, fillers), forming nanocomposites. Nanoparticles have proportionally larger surface area than their microscale counterparts, which favor the filler-matrix interactions and the performance of the resulting material. Nanostructures may also provide active properties such as antimicrobial properties, oxygen scavenging ability, enzyme immobilization, or indication of the degree of exposure to some detrimental factors like inadequate temperatures or oxygen levels. This review focuses on the properties of the most studied bio-based nanocomposites such as chitosan, starch, polycaprolactone, polylactic acid and polyhydroxy alconate and their food packaging applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]