Chitosan/MXene Biodegradable Films for Sustainable UV‐Shielded Food Packaging Application

ABSTRACT Highly transparent, flexible and sustainable biocomposite films were synthesized by solvent mixing of chitosan (CS) with finely dispersed MXene (MX) nanosheets and subsequent solution casting. The fact that MXene was evenly dispersed all the way through CS was assured by the findings from FTIR, FESEM and XRD analyses, and MXene nanosheets had a strong hydrogen and static interaction. However, chitosan/MXene composite (CSMX) films' thermal stability was confirmed by the TGA and DTG results. The ultraviolet (UV) blocking performance of the CS films was significantly augmented by the addition of MXene (blocks nearly 100% of UV‐C and UV‐B radiation, and ∼99.5% of UV‐A radiation for CSMX‐0.04 film), which provided excellent transparency in the visible range. In addition, the CSMX film demonstrated superior film flexibility along with several developed mechanical aspects like young's modulus and tensile strength of 80.95 ± 1.32 MPa and 19.72 ± 1.032 MPa, respectively. The soil burial test (for biodegradability) of the composite showed that the CSMX‐0.04 film exhibited almost compete degradation within just 7 weeks. Moreover, the addition of MXene (CSMX‐0.005) into the CS film augmented the inhibition zone for both Staphylococcus aureus (8.317 ± 0.208) and Escherichia coli (8.269 ± 0.207). Furthermore, the fruit preservation study confirmed the increase of shelf life (ripening time) due to the incorporation of MXene within the chitosan film. The data demonstrated that these bio‐based nanocomposites showed excellent antibacterial, UV shielding and mechanical properties, which offers perspectives for the replacement of currently used traditional plastic‐based food packaging items.