Comprehensive Characterization of Enhanced Performance PLA/TiO2 Packaging Films Synthesized Via Ultrasonication Assisted Solution Casting Process

Comprehensive Characterization of Enhanced Performance PLA/TiO2 Packaging Films Synthesized Via Ultrasonication Assisted Solution Casting Process | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Comprehensive Characterization of Enhanced Performance PLA/TiO2 Packaging Films Synthesized Via Ultrasonication Assisted Solution Casting Process Anuprita Bhosale, Dadarao Raut, Vinod Suryawanshi, Masidd Khalate This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8645786/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study aims to fabricate poly (lactic acid)/titanium dioxide (PLA/TiO₂) nano composite films for food packaging applications by using ultrasonication-assisted solvent casting approach. Conventional solvent-casting techniques often suffer from TiO₂ particle agglomeration leading to limited functional properties improvements. The proposed method combines ethanol pre-treatment of TiO₂ nanoparticles with prolonged ultrasonication followed by solvent casting. This method ensures uniform nanoparticle dispersion within the PLA matrix. Significant morphological, structural and functional improvements in properties is observed which includes shifts in carbonyl bands indicated in Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), pronounced anatase peaks in X-ray diffraction (XRD). Further, water vapor permeability and water solubility was reduced to 43.5% and 50% respectively. Also, mechanical properties of PLA namely as tensile strength and Young’s modulus are increased by 24% and 160%, respectively. Additionally, TiO₂ acts as a strong nucleating agent, enhancing crystallinity and thermal stability, simultaneously hindering the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli bacteria significantly. Cytotoxicity assessments realised composites’ biocompatibility with L929 fibroblast cells. Overall, this work presents a novel strategy to enhance uniform dispersion of nanoparticles for high-performance, antimicrobial, and thermally stable PLA/TiO₂ nano composite films, paving the way for next-generation biodegradable food packaging solutions. PLA/TiO₂ nanocomposite films ultrasonication ethanol pre-treatment Antibacterial activity Cytotoxicity Biodegradable food packing Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8645786","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":611391413,"identity":"a4f1cc12-7a27-4c03-91dd-3377b2bffed0","order_by":0,"name":"Anuprita Bhosale","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Anuprita","middleName":"","lastName":"Bhosale","suffix":""},{"id":611391420,"identity":"59c1feb6-25b0-490d-9184-8e40baca76b9","order_by":1,"name":"Dadarao Raut","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Dadarao","middleName":"","lastName":"Raut","suffix":""},{"id":611391421,"identity":"35cb8fbb-99a7-428f-b848-b4596e199013","order_by":2,"name":"Vinod Suryawanshi","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI)","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Vinod","middleName":"","lastName":"Suryawanshi","suffix":""},{"id":611391422,"identity":"2d2c5d30-6ade-4c8f-909c-1feed28d7930","order_by":3,"name":"Masidd Khalate","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Infinite Biotech Institute of Research and Analytics","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Masidd","middleName":"","lastName":"Khalate","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-20 06:43:09","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8645786/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8645786/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":108492448,"identity":"21c5e139-fd56-42df-bbee-7109e694bd32","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-05 09:57:47","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1302134,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"SuryawanshiPLATiO2.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8645786/v1_covered_5d707796-8971-4b4d-b817-968eaf401fc2.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Comprehensive Characterization of Enhanced Performance PLA/TiO2 Packaging Films Synthesized Via Ultrasonication Assisted Solution Casting Process","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"PLA/TiO₂ nanocomposite films, ultrasonication, ethanol pre-treatment, Antibacterial activity, Cytotoxicity, Biodegradable food packing","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8645786/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8645786/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis study aims to fabricate poly (lactic acid)/titanium dioxide (PLA/TiO₂) nano composite films for food packaging applications by using ultrasonication-assisted solvent casting approach. Conventional solvent-casting techniques often suffer from TiO₂ particle agglomeration leading to limited functional properties improvements. The proposed method combines ethanol pre-treatment of TiO₂ nanoparticles with prolonged ultrasonication followed by solvent casting. This method ensures uniform nanoparticle dispersion within the PLA matrix. Significant morphological, structural and functional improvements in properties is observed which includes shifts in carbonyl bands indicated in Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), pronounced anatase peaks in X-ray diffraction (XRD). Further, water vapor permeability and water solubility was reduced to 43.5% and 50% respectively. Also, mechanical properties of PLA namely as tensile strength and Young\u0026rsquo;s modulus are increased by 24% and 160%, respectively. Additionally, TiO₂ acts as a strong nucleating agent, enhancing crystallinity and thermal stability, simultaneously hindering the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli bacteria significantly. Cytotoxicity assessments realised composites\u0026rsquo; biocompatibility with L929 fibroblast cells.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOverall, this work presents a novel strategy to enhance uniform dispersion of nanoparticles for high-performance, antimicrobial, and thermally stable PLA/TiO₂ nano composite films, paving the way for next-generation biodegradable food packaging solutions.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Comprehensive Characterization of Enhanced Performance PLA/TiO2 Packaging Films Synthesized Via Ultrasonication Assisted Solution Casting Process","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-03-26 14:34:23","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8645786/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"4252762b-7ffd-47c3-801f-0bfffab10760","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 26th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[{"type":"decision","content":"Rejected","date":"2026-05-04T09:17:48+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-04T09:26:12+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-03-26 14:34:23","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8645786","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8645786","identity":"rs-8645786","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}