Photothermal controlled antibacterial Ta₄C₃T_x-AgNPs/nanocellulose bioplastic food packaging

Uncontrolled antibacterial, insufficient barrier and low strength are the bottlenecks of food packaging applications. Herein, Ta₄C₃T_x nanosheet as a template was used to prepare Ta₄C₃T_x immobilized silver nanoparticles (Ta₄C₃T_x-AgNPs), which was compounded with nanocellulose to obtain high-strength and high barrier controllable bactericidal nanocellulose-based bioplastic packaging (CTa-Ag). The results indicated that due to the hydrogen bonding between nanocellulose and Ta₄C₃T_x, the bridging effect of QCS (quaternized chitosan) and the filling of Ta₄C₃T_x-AgNPs, the CTa-Ag had tightly stacked microstructure, which endowed them with excellent mechanical properties (4.0 GPa), ultra-low oxygen permeability (0.009 cm³/m²·d·atm) and stable photothermal conversion efficiency. Importantly, the packaging exhibits the ability to control the release of antibacterial active ingredients. Moreover, the synergistic effects of controllable release of nano active factors, photothermal and photocatalysis in CTa-Ag gave it long-lasting antibacterial properties. This study brings new insights into the design and manufacture of multifunctional, controllable and long-lasting antibacterial bioplastic food packaging.