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Grant support

This research is a part of the grant PID2023-152869OB-C22, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and the grant TED2021-131762A-I00, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by the European Union "NextGenerationEU"/PRTR. Authors also thank Generalitat Valenciana-GVA for funding this research through the grant numbers CIAICO/2023/253 and CIGE/2023/46. Funded with Aid for First Research Projects (PAID-06-22) , Vice-rectorate for Research of the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (UPV) . J. G.-C. wants to thank FPU20/01732 grant funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ESF Investing in your future.

Analysis of institutional authors

Lazaro-Hdez, CarlosAuthorGómez-Caturla, JaumeCorresponding AuthorQuiles-Carrillo, LuisAuthor

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February 17, 2025
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Innovative development and characterization of thermoplastic zein-based biopolymers for food packaging via injection molding

Publicated to:Food Hydrocolloids. 163 111134- - 2025-06-01 163(), DOI: 10.1016/j.foodhyd.2025.111134

Authors: Plasencia, Lluis; Arrieta, Marina P; Lazaro-Hdez, Carlos; Gomez-Caturla, Jaume; Quiles-Carrillo, Luis

Affiliations

Grp Polimeros Caracterizac & Aplicac POLCA, Madrid, Spain - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid, Dept Ingn Quim Ind & Medio Ambiente, Escuela Tecn Super Ingn Ind, ETSII UPM, Madrid, Spain - Author
Univ Politecn Valencia, Inst Univ Invest Tecnol Mat, IUITM UPV, Alcoy, Spain - Author

Abstract

This study focuses on the development of biodegradable polymers using zein (ZEI) plasticized with glycerol (GLY) and urea (UREA), with the goal of replacing conventional plastics in food packaging. The optimized combination of glycerol and urea in zein formulations significantly enhances mechanical properties: ZEI-15GLY10UREA formulation achieves a maximum tensile strength of 21.3 MPa. Elongation at break is higher in blends with lower urea content, reaching 9.1% in ZEI-20GLY-5UREA. Conversely, formulations with higher urea content exhibit reduced elongation and toughness, evident in the decrease to 1.8 kJ/m2 of impact energy in ZEI-25UREA. Samples show Shore D hardness values up to 82.0. Morphological characterization confirms consistent behavior with mechanical properties, indicating that the glycerol and urea combination promotes a more ductile structure. Incorporation of these plasticizers lowers the glass transition temperature of the compounds from 53.8 degrees C in ZEI25GLY to between 48 degrees C and 49 degrees C in formulations with 5% and 10% urea. All formulations exhibit biodegradation behaviour, with all of them achieving complete degradation in the final weeks. In all cases, there is a clear trend of mass loss during the first 6 weeks, with all formulations losing more than 80% of their initial mass.

Keywords

BiopolymersCross-linkingExtrusioFood packaginGlycerolGold nanoparticlesInjection moldingMechanical-propertiesOleic-acidPlasticizationPlasticizersProteinProteinsStarch filmsUreaZeine

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Food Hydrocolloids due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2025, it was in position 5/75, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Chemistry, Applied. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2025-09-12:

  • WoS: 1

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-09-12:

  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 17 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

    Leadership analysis of institutional authors

    There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Plasencia, Lluis) and Last Author (Quiles Carrillo, Luis Jesús).

    the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been Gómez Caturla, Jaume.