Preparation and functional properties of poly(vinyl alcohol)/ethyl cellulose/tea polyphenol electrospun nanofibrous films for active packaging material

In this study, the blending electrospinning technique was successfully used to prepare poly (vinyl alcohol)/ethyl cellulose/tea polyphenol (PVA/EC-TP) nanofibrous films for the first time. The morphology observation showed that the fiber diameter ranged from 213 ± 40 nm to 432 ± 78 nm. The thermal analysis indicated that PVA/EC-TP composite nanofibrous films had superior thermal stability to pure PVA nanofibrous film. The wettability test showed that the water contact angle of composite nanofibrous films was significantly increased from 22° to 109°. Water stability and water barrier ability analyses indicated the water solubility of composite nanofibrous films was significantly decreased from 100% to 17%, and the water vapor permeability was reduced from 0.71 to 0.42 g⋅mm/m2⋅h⋅kPa. Meanwhile, the PVA/EC-TP composite nanofibrous films exhibited good antioxidant and antimicrobial activity. The application assay showed that the PVA/EC-TP nanofibrous films with high TP content could effectively extend the shelf life of pork by 3 days.