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Antibacterial [2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl] trimethylammonium chloride functionalized reduced graphene oxide/poly (ethyleneco-vinyl alcohol) multilayer barrier film towards food packaging Hualin Wang, minmin chen, Chongyang Jin, Baicheng Niu, Suwei Jiang, xingjiang li, and Shaotong jiang J. Agric. Food Chem., Just Accepted Manuscript • DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.7b04784 • Publication Date (Web): 27 Dec 2017 Downloaded from http://pubs.acs.org on December 29, 2017
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Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
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Antibacterial
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functionalized reduced graphene oxide/poly (ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) multilayer
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barrier film towards food packaging
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Hualin Wang†, § , Minmin Chen†, Chongyang Jin†, Baicheng Niu†, Suwei Jiang†, Xingjiang Li‡, §, Shaotong Jiang‡,
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†School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and ‡ School of Food Science and Engineering, Hefei University
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of Technology, 230009, Hefei, Anhui, P. R. China
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§
[2-(methacryloyloxy)
ethyl]
trimethylammonium
chloride
∗
§
Anhui Institute of Agro-Products Intensive Processing Technology, 230009, Hefei, Anhui, P. R. China
9 10
∗
Corresponding author. E-mail:
[email protected] 1
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Abstract: The objective of present work was to construct antibacterial [2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl]
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trimethylammonium chloride functionalized reduced graphene oxide/poly (ethylene-co-vinyl
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alcohol) (MTAC-rGO/EVOH) multilayer barrier films by using layer-by-layer assembly under a
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parallel electric field. Besides the barrier and mechanical properties, the film antibacterial
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activities and cytotoxicity of MTAC-rGO nanosheets were extensively investigated. The
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functionalization of rGO was achieved by grafting MTAC onto graphene framework through C
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(sp3)-C bonds. The assembly of MTAC-rGO on EVOH matrix not only significantly improved
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film mechanical strength, but also endowed the targeting film with outstanding moisture barrier
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even under a relative humidity of 99 % (e.g., 0.019 g m-2 s-1 atm-1 for (MTAC-rGO/EVOH)20 )
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besides good oxygen barrier (e.g., 0.07 cm3 m-2 d-1 atm-1 for (MTAC-rGO/EVOH)20). Among the
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testing films, MTAC-rGO/EVOH film had the best antibacterial activity, and the activity against S.
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aureus was better than E. coli. Meanwhile, the cytotoxicity of MTAC-rGO nanosheets was very
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low. Results suggest that MTAC-rGO/EVOH film may have great potential in food active
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packaging.
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KEYWORDS: layer-by-layer assembly, barrier, antibacterial activity, functionalized reduced
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graphene oxide, active packaging
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INTRODUCTION
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Barrier film with good antibacterial activity has attracted considerable attention in food
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packaging due to its synergistic effects in sustaining the safety and quality of packaged food
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products.1-4 Ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol (EVOH) has been widely used in food packaging due to its
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good oxygen barrier5 and mechanical strength.6,
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activity and its moisture barrier is poor due to the moisture sensitivity of –OH groups in the matrix,
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which have limited the application of EVOH in food packaging to a certain extent.
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However, EVOH film has no antibacterial
EVOH films can be endowed with antibacterial activity by introducing various antimicrobials
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such as silver,8 lysozyme
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emerged as a new effective approach to prevent microbial proliferation, indicating that the load of
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some metallic ions or metal oxides (e.g., Ag+, ZnO, and MoS2) on graphene could enhance the
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antibacterial activities of graphene;11-17 in addition, a few groups improved antibacterial activities
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of graphene by grafting some non-metallic antibacterial moieties (e.g., chlorophenyl18,
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guanidine,19, 20 quaternary phosphonium salts21 and N-halamines22) onto graphene frame. Known
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as the active moieties against microorganisms by interaction with the cell membrane, quaternary
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ammonium salts have displayed great potential application in food preservatives and drug delivery
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system.23-26 Representatively, Ye et al. fabricated reduced graphene oxide/quaternary ammonium
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salt (dodecyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride and bromohexadecyl pyridine) nanocomposites
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with long-term antibacterial activity prepared by using non-covalent modification.25
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[2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl] trimethylammonium chloride (MTAC) is a quaternary ammonium salt
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monomer with a reactive methacryloyl group, which is easily subjected to radical polymerization.
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As a result, the antibacterial moiety MTAC can be grafted onto graphene by covalent
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and chitosan10. Antimicrobial graphene-based nanomaterials has
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modification.
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Graphene has displayed a great potential in the improvement of film barrier due to the large
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aspect ratio of nanosheet.27, 28 As it is well known, there are numerous hydrophilic groups (e.g.
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hydroxyl, epoxide, and carboxyl groups) on the graphene oxide (GO). Those hydrophilic groups
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are not beneficial in increasing the moisture barrier of films29. To overcome this drawback, we can
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use reduced graphene oxide (rGO) instead of GO30 or graft hydrophobic groups (e.g.,
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triethoxysilylpropyl,31 methoxybenzene,32 iodophenyl33 and aminophenyl groups34) on the
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graphene framework in the fabrication of graphene-based barrier film. Furthermore, multilayer
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structure is also an effective strategy to enhance the barrier of film. The layer-by-layer (LbL)
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assembly technique is a simple, inexpensive, and versatile process to construct highly ordered
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multilayer structures,35 which has been used for the assembly of graphene-based nano-platelets on
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polyethyleneimine substrate36, 37 and poly (ethylene terephthalate) substrate38 to obtain multilayer
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barrier films. As the driving forces for LbL assembly process are mainly from non-covalent
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interactions such as electrostatic attraction, hydrogen-bonding, van der Waals forces,
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charge-transfer complexes, and hydrophobic -hydrophobic attractions.39 Therefore, most of the
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substrates are restricted to some ionized or strong polar polymers. If the substrates are under
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parallel electric field at a high voltage, the charged nano-platelets in suspension can be assembled
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and oriented on them. Then the substrates may be extended to weak polar or non-polar polymers
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such as EVOH32.
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In order to achieve antibacterial and barrier synergistic effects for food packaging, the MTAC
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functionalized reduced graphene oxide/poly (ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) (MTAC-rGO/EVOH)
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multilayer films were constructed in the present work. The LbL assembly of the positively charged 4
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MTAC-rGO on EVOH substrate was achieved under a parallel electric field. Besides barrier and
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mechanical properties, the antibacterial activities of MTAC-rGO/EVOH films and the cytotoxicity
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of the MTAC-rGO were extensively investigated.
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MATERIALS AND METHODS
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Materials. Poly (vinyl alcohol-co-ethylene) (EVOH, Soarnol®, containing 32 mol % of
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ethylene) was provided by The Nippon Synthetic Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. (Nippon Gohsei)
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(Osaka, Japan). [2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl] trimethylammonium chloride (MTAC, purity 75 wt%
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in H2O) and hydrazine hydrate (purity ≥ 98%) were purchased from Aladdin Chemical Reagent
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Co., Ltd. (Shanghai, China). Graphite powder (average particle size ≤30 µm, purity ≥ 99.85%),
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sulfuric acid (H2SO4, 98%), potassium permanganate (KMnO4), sodium nitrate (NaNO3),
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hydrogen peroxide (H2O2, 30%), glacial acetic acid (99.5%) and N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF,
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99.8%) were available from Sinopharm Chemical Reagent Co. Ltd. (Shanghai, China). All the
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chemicals and reagents were of analytical grade and all solutions were prepared with Milli-Q
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water from a purification system (Millipore, Bedford, MA, USA).
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Peptone and beef extract were obtained from Aoboxing Product (Shanghai, China). Hank's
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balance salt solution (HBSS) was purchased from Beijing Solarbio Science & Technology Co. Ltd.
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(Beijing, China). Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM)/ high glucose, 0.25% trypsin 1X
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and fetal bovine serum (FBS) were provided by HyClone Laboratories Inc. (Utah, USA).
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Escherichia coli (E. coli, 8099) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus, ATCC 6538) were provided
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by the China Center of Industrial Culture Collection (Beijing, China). HeLa cells were obtained as
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a gift from the Research Institute of Toxicology at School of Food Science and Engineering in
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Hefei University of Technology (Hefei, Anhui). 5
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Preparation of functionalized graphene nanosheets. Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was
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prepared according our previous work.32 Briefly, the graphene oxide (GO) was firstly prepared
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from graphite powders by the modified Hummers method, and then dispersed in a sodium
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dodecylsulfate (SDS, surfactant) aqueous solution (1 wt%) to form a concentration of 1 mg/ml
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dispersion. After being reduced by hydrazine hydrate at 80 °C for 24 h, the mixture was
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centrifuged and the filter cake was washed with Milli-Q water and acetone three times before
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dried in a vacuum oven (60 °C, 24 h). Subsequently, the cake was ground by using an agate mortar
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to obtain reduced graphene oxide (rGO).
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The as-prepared rGO (30 mg) was dispersed in 30 ml Milli-Q water (Millipore, Bedford, MA,
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USA) by gently stirring for 1 h and then sonicated for 10 min. The functionalization agent
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[2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl] trimethylammonium chloride (MTAC) (13.3 g) and Milli-Q water (40
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ml) were added into the suspension at room temperature. After stirring for 30 min, the system was
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purged under a gentle stream of nitrogen for 30 min to remove oxygen. Then, 100 mg of
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(NH4)2S2O8 (80 wt%, dissolved in Milli-Q water) was slowly drop-wise added into the flask
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through a dropping funnel. After reacted at 60 °C for 48 h, the MTAC functionalized rGO
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(MTAC-rGO) were obtained. In order to remove the residue functionalization agent, the mixture
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was centrifuged and the filter cake was washed with Milli-Q water and acetone three times. After
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being dried in a vacuum oven (60 °C, 24 h), the cake was ground by using an agate mortar and
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pestle to a powder of MTAC-GO (33-35 mg).
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LbL assembly of MTAC-rGO/EVOH flims. The LbL assembly of MTAC-rGO/EVOH flim
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was performed under a parallel electric field generated by a high voltage power supply
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(LBZ-120kV/2mA, Shanghai Liubao Electric Appliance Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China) according to 6
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our previous work.32 Briefly, a stainless steel disk substrate (140 mm in diameter and 3 mm in
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thickness) was first dipped in EVOH solution (3 wt %, glacial acetic acid: H2O = 9:1, v/v) for 1
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min, and then dried in oven (40 °C, 4 h). Owing to the positively charged MTAC-rGO, the
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substrate was subjected to the LbL assembly process in the suspension (16 mg MTAC-rGO
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powder in 160 ml DMF, pH 7) at cathode plate under the electric field (45 kV, 10 min) (Figure
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1A), and then the substrate was dried in an oven (40 °C, 1h) before the next cycle (Figure 1B). For
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the comparison of antibacterial activity, we prepared rGO/EVOH film under the same process
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parameters by exchanging the electrodes due to the negatively charged rGO.
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Zeta potential. The surface charge of rGO and MTAC-rGO were investigated by zeta
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potential performed on a Zetasizer Nano-ZS90 apparatus (Malvern Instruments, Worcestershire,
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UK). The testing suspensions (1%, w/v) were prepared by dispersing rGO and MTAC-rGO
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powders in DMF respectively at 35 oC for 1 h, and then cooled to room temperature. The
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suspensions (1ml) were injected into a plug-type electrode using needle tubing, and then the
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electrode was placed in the test cell. Triplicate measurements were taken for each sample at room
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temperature.
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Structure and morphology. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra were
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conducted on a Nicolet 6700 spectrometer (Thermo Nicolet, Madison, WI, USA), and the powders
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were subjected to FTIR spectroscopy in the range of 4000-400 cm-1 using KBr pellets. Raman
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spectra were recorded using a confocal micro-Raman spectrometer (LabRAM HR-800, Horiba
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Jobin Yvon, France) with a He-Ne laser excitation at 633 nm. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns
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were obtained using an X-ray diffractometer (X’Pert Pro MPD, Philips, Netherlands) with Cu Kα
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radiation (λ=0.15406 nm) and operated at 40 kV and 40 mA. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy 7
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(XPS) of samples was performed by Mg Kα radiation with an ESCALAB 250 (Thermo-VG
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Scientific, USA) X-ray photoelectron spectrometer. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images of
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the MTAC-GO after one cycle in parallel electric field were observed by Bruker Dimension Icon
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scanning probe microscope (Bruker Co., Germany). The microstructure and morphology of
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MTAC-GO nanosheets were characterized by a transmission electron microscopy (TEM,
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JEM-2100, JEOL, Japan). MTAC-GO powders (1.0 mg) were suspended in 10 ml DMF by
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sonication for 10 min at room temperature. The suspensions were dropped on a lacey carbon
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support film for TEM observation.
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The fracture surface MTAC-GO/EVOH film was observed using scanning electron
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microscopy (SEM, SU8020, Hitachi, Japan). Prior to examination, the tearing fracture surfaces of
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films were coated with sputter-gold.
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Barrier properties for water vapor and oxygen. The films (MTAC-rGO surface exposure to the
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wet environment ), sealed on beakers containing silica gel (0% RH), were placed in an artificial
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climate incubator (BIC 250, Shanghai Boxun industry & Commerce Co., Ltd, Shanghai, China).
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The temperature and relative humidity of the incubator were adjusted to 25 oC and the high
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detection limit (99%, RH), respectively. The moisture absorbed was estimated by periodical
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weighing of beakers at 6 h intervals during 5 days. WVTR (g m-2 d-1atm-1) was determined for
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three replicate specimens each type, as follows:
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(1)
WVTR= w / A× t × ∆P
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where w is the weight gain of beaker (g), A is the area of exposed film (m2), t is the time of weight
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gain (s), and ∆P is the water vapor partial pressure difference (atm) across the two sides of film
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calculated on the basis of relative humidity. 8
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Oxygen transmission rate (OTR, according to ASTMD1434) of films was determined at 23
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o
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Guangzhou, China). The open testing area of each sample in three parallel measurements was
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approximately 50 cm2, respectively. Film thickness was measured with a hand-held micrometer
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(BC Ames Co., Waltham, MA, USA).
C and 0% RH on a N500 gas permeameter (Guangzhou Biaoji packaging equipment Co., Ltd
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Mechanical properties. Tensile measurements were carried out according to the procedure
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outlined in ASTM method D882-91 with an average of five measurements taken for each film (at
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least two films per formulation). Each specimen was cut into rectangular strip about 1 cm × 10 cm,
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and then mounted between the grips of TA-XTPlus Texture Analyser (Stable Micro Systems, Co.,
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UK). The initial grip separation was adjusted to 50 mm and the crosshead speed was set at 0.5
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mm/s. The tensile strength and elongation at break of each specimen were calculated directly on
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the basis of the stress–strain curves by using OriginPro 8 software (Origin Lab Corporation, USA),
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correspondingly, the Young's modulus was determined from the slope of the initial linear portion.
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Antibacterial activity assay. In the present work, the typical (MTAC-rGO/EVOH)20 and
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(rGO/EVOH)20 films were subjected to the test of antibacterial activities, using bare EVOH film as
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control. The antibacterial activities of films were evaluated by the plate-counting method. E. coli
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and S. aureus strains were selected as Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria models,
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respectively.
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E.coli and S. aureus strains were cultured overnight in Luria-Bertani (LB) culture medium on
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a shaker platform (37 °C, 200 rpm). Then, the bacterial suspension was diluted in fresh culture
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medium until reached log phase (107 CFU ml-1). In order to assure the film contacting with
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bacterial suspension the completely, an excessive dosage of bacterial suspension (100 µl) was 9
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spread on the active surface of film (1×1 cm2) and then incubated at 37 °C for 1 h, using bare
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EVOH film as control. The excess bacterial suspension was then discarded and the film was
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washed by 5 ml of PBS solution (0.2 mol l-1) to remove the non-contact bacteria on the surface.
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Subsequently, the film was dipped into a centrifuge tube containing 5 ml PBS and sonicated for 1
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h. The bacteria suspension was spread on LB agar plate and incubated at 37 °C for 24 h for
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counting units.
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Scanning electron microscopy (SEM, SU8020, Hitachi, Japan) were used to observe the
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morphologies of bacteria after exposure to EVOH and (MTAC-rGO/EVOH)20 films, Prior to
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examination, the surfaces of specimens were coated with sputter-gold. After contacting with
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bacterial suspension, the specimens were washed with PBS solution and then fixed with
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Karnovsky’s fixative (2% paraformaldehyde, 2.5% glutaraldehyde in 0.2 mol l-1 PBS at pH 7.4)
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for 4 h before dehydrated by a sequential immersion in ethanol aqueous solutions (30, 50, 70, 80,
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90, and 100 %) for 10 min, respectively. Subsequently, the specimens were freeze-dried overnight.
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Cytotoxicity assay of MTAC-rGO. HeLa cells were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's
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medium (DMEM) supplemented with FBS (10 %) and penicillin and streptomycin solution (1%)
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and then incubated in a CO2 incubator (37 °C, 5% CO2). In order to evaluate the cytotoxicity of
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MTAC-rGO nanosheets, HeLa cells were selected to culture with them. Hela cells after three
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passages were washed three times with HBSS and then digested with 0.25 % trypsin 1X before
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being centrifuged for 10 min (100 g, 4 °C) for the further experiment.
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Hela cells were plated in the 96-well plates (100 µl per well, ~5 × 103 cells ml−1) and incubated
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for 24 h. The culture medium was then discarded, and the testing specimens were separately
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injected to the plates with concentrations at 0.0, 10.0, 20.0, 30.0, 40.0, and 50.0 µg ml−1 in 100 µl 10
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fresh culture mediums, respectively. After an incubation of 24 h, the culture medium was removed
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from plates, followed by washing three times with HBSS. Subsequently, HeLa cells were reacted
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with 100 µl of CCK-8 in each well and incubated in the CO2 incubator for 2 h. After then, the
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culture mediums were measured at 450 nm optical density (OD450) with a microplate reader
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(Bio-Rad, USA) to evaluate the cell viability (CV). The values of CV were calculated as follows:
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CV =
Test Blank OD450 − OD450 Ctrl Blank OD450 − OD450
(2)
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Test Ctrl Blank where OD450 , OD450 and OD450 are the OD450 of graphene, control, and blank (without Hela
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cells and MTAC-rGO nanosheets) culture mediums, respectively.
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Fluorescent images were taken to observe the live and attached Hela cells exposure to
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specimens by using fluorescent microscopy (Olympus BX43, Japan) with excitation at 488 nm
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provided by a Multi Ar laser on BWA detection. Hela cells were plated in 24-well plates with
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slides (500 µl per well, ~5 × 103 cells ml−1) and incubated for 24 h. After removing the culture
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medium from each well, MTAC-rGO nanosheets with fresh culture medium (500 µl) at
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concentrations of 0.0, 10.0, 20.0, 30.0, 40.0, and 50.0 µg ml−1 was separately injected to the wells
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and incubated for 24 h. After then, the culture medium was removed from the plate and the cells
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were washed three times with HBSS. To dye the cells, 200 µl rhodamine 123 (0.001 mol l-1,
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dissolved in DMSO)was injected to the wells and incubated for 45 min. After being washed three
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times with HBSS, the cells were fixed on the slides by using 10 % formalin solution before
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subjected to the observation of fluorescent microscope.
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Statistical analysis. Each experiment was repeated three times. Statistical analysis was
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performed using the unpaired Student’s t-test, and the results were expressed as the means ±
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standard deviation (SD). A value of p