Breheny Colette, Colbert Declan Mary, Bezerra Gilberto, Geever Joseph, Geever Luke M
Polymer, Recycling, Industrial, Sustainability and Manufacturing (PRISM) Research Institute, Technological University of the Shannon, University Road, N37 HD68 Athlone, Ireland.
Materials (Basel). 2025 May 1;18(9):2085. doi: 10.3390/ma18092085.
The use of thermochromic pigments in food packaging offers several advantages, including improved food safety, waste reduction, and temperature change monitoring. However, little is known about how chemically resilient these materials are, especially regarding optical stability, thermochromic activation, and mechanical integrity following exposure to acidic, alkaline, oil-based, and neutral food-contact environments. This study evaluates the chemical resistance, thermal cycling effects, and mechanical durability of thermochromic pigment-polymer blends. Thermochromic polymer samples were subjected to multiple chemical environments, repeated thermal cycling, and mechanical analysis to assess degradation behavior. The findings show that virgin food-grade polymer with no thermochromic pigment sustains its performance stability throughout chemical exposure with little degradation. However, thermochromic polymer blends experienced reduced thermochromic functionality. This study offers insight into how well thermochromic pigment can be incorporated into intelligent food packaging despite the limitations associated with chemical exposure.
在食品包装中使用热致变色颜料具有诸多优势，包括提高食品安全、减少浪费以及监测温度变化。然而，对于这些材料的化学稳定性，尤其是在暴露于酸性、碱性、油基和中性食品接触环境后的光学稳定性、热致变色激活和机械完整性方面，人们了解甚少。本研究评估了热致变色颜料 - 聚合物共混物的耐化学性、热循环效应和机械耐久性。对热致变色聚合物样品进行了多种化学环境、反复热循环和机械分析，以评估其降解行为。研究结果表明，未添加热致变色颜料的原始食品级聚合物在整个化学暴露过程中保持其性能稳定性，降解很少。然而，热致变色聚合物共混物的热致变色功能有所降低。尽管存在与化学暴露相关的局限性，但本研究为热致变色颜料如何能很好地应用于智能食品包装提供了见解。
