Fabrication of High-barrier Polylactic Acid/Montmorillonite Composite Films and Their Application in Chilled Mutton Packaging

CHEN Zhongsheng; ZHANG Yuan; LIU Min; KOU Jingbang; BAI Jiaxin; DONG Tungalag; YUN Xueyan

doi:10.19554/j.cnki.1001-3563.2025.13.016

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Packaging Engineering ›› 2025, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (13) : 141-150. DOI: 10.19554/j.cnki.1001-3563.2025.13.016

Agro-products Preservation and Food Packaging

Fabrication of High-barrier Polylactic Acid/Montmorillonite Composite Films and Their Application in Chilled Mutton Packaging

CHEN Zhongsheng^1,4, ZHANG Yuan^1,4, LIU Min^1,2,4, KOU Jingbang^1,4, BAI Jiaxin^1,4, DONG Tungalag^1,3,4, YUN Xueyan^1,3,4,*

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Abstract

The work aims to develop a biodegradable green food packaging with excellent barrier properties and suitable for the preservation of chilled mutton. CMC-Na was used to assist in the dispersion of MMT to form a stable suspension, and the horizontal alignment of MMT sheet layers was induced by vacuum filtration, followed by the preparation of high barrier polylactic acid/montmorillonite (PLLA/CS/MC) films by fixing the MMT barrier layer to the PLLA substrate with the help of chitosan (CS). The micro-morphology, mechanical properties, and barrier properties of the films were analyzed and evaluated for their application in the preservation of chilled mutton. The experimental results showed that the exfoliated state and oriented alignment of the MMT sheet layers enabled the PLLA/CS/MC films to achieve ultra-high barrier properties (OTR<0.008 cm³/m²·d) and UV-blocking ability, while maintaining moderate transparency (56.8%). Mechanical property tests also showed that the barrier layer did not adversely affect the mechanical properties of PLLA. In addition, the PLLA/CS/MC film group presented the lowest spoilage rate in the chilled mutton preservation experiment. After 25 days of storage, it produced 5.95 lg(CFU/g) of total colony count, 0.98 mg/kg of thiobarbituric acid, 19.47 mg/100g of total volatile saline nitrogen, and a pH value of 5.85, and the chilled mutton was still in the second level of freshness. In summary, PLLA/CS/MC films effectively slow down the corruption rate of various indicators during storage of chilled mutton in the application of chilled mutton packaging, and extended the shelf life of chilled mutton to 25 d. It provides a theoretical basis for the improvement of the barrier performance of PLLA films and their application in chilled mutton packaging.

Key words

polylactic acid (PLLA) / montmorillonite (MMT) / high-barrier / biodegradability / chilled mutton preservation

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CHEN Zhongsheng, ZHANG Yuan, LIU Min, KOU Jingbang, BAI Jiaxin, DONG Tungalag, YUN Xueyan. Fabrication of High-barrier Polylactic Acid/Montmorillonite Composite Films and Their Application in Chilled Mutton Packaging[J]. Packaging Engineering. 2025, 46(13): 141-150 https://doi.org/10.19554/j.cnki.1001-3563.2025.13.016

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