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Electrospinning SA@PVDF-HFP Core-Shell Nanofibers Based on a Visual Light Transmission Response to Alcohol for
Yanan Xiao1, Fengwei Xie2, Hao Luo1
1Key Laboratory of Automobile Materials, Ministry Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130025, China.
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
|February 7, 2022
Summary
A new reusable detector uses a rapid light transmittance response to detect fruit freshness in real-time. This naked-eye technology offers a visual method for intelligent food packaging, enhancing food safety.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Food Science
- Chemical Engineering
Background:
- Real-time and reusable detection of fruit freshness is crucial for food safety and waste reduction.
- Existing methods for assessing fruit spoilage can be time-consuming or require specialized equipment.
- Development of simple, visual indicators for food quality is highly desirable for consumer applications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To design and fabricate a naked-eye detector for real-time fruit freshness monitoring.
- To investigate the structure-property relationships of core-shell nanofibers for optical detection.
- To evaluate the performance of the detector based on its response to alcohol and acetic acid released by decaying fruit.
Main Methods:
- Coaxial electrospinning of fluorine-rich poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) as the shell and sodium alginate (SA) with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as the core.
- Post-spinning treatment involving CaCl2 crosslinking and PVA removal to form a stable hydrogel core.
- Characterization of fiber morphology and structural evolution with varying SA concentration using microscopy and optical measurements.
Main Results:
- Successfully fabricated core-shell fibrous membranes with tunable interior structures (nonconcentric to core-shell) by adjusting SA concentration.
- The detector exhibited a rapid and reversible transmittance response to alcohol and acetic acid, indicated by a change from opaque to transparent.
- The developed membranes achieved over 90% light transparency after exposure to decaying fruit volatiles, demonstrating effective detection.
Conclusions:
- The core-shell fibrous detector based on PVDF-HFP and SA offers a promising platform for visual fruit freshness detection.
- The optical response is attributed to the decreased light scattering upon interaction with fruit spoilage volatiles.
- This technology has high potential for application in intelligent food packaging systems for real-time quality monitoring.
