Mechanically Robust and Degradable Poly(urethane-urea) Plastics Derived from Tannic Acid and Castor Oil for Enhanced Fruit Preservation

Hong-Yu Pan; Xu Fang; Yi-Xuan Li; Si-Heng Li; Xiang Li; Jun-Qi Sun

doi:10.1007/s10118-025-3290-1

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Mechanically Robust and Degradable Poly(urethane-urea) Plastics Derived from Tannic Acid and Castor Oil for Enhanced Fruit Preservation

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2025-02-25

- Mechanically Robust and Degradable Poly(urethane-urea) Plastics Derived from Tannic Acid and Castor Oil for Enhanced Fruit Preservation
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science Vol. 43, Issue 3, Pages: 447-456(2025)
- Affiliations：
  
  State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China
- Author bio：
  
  sun_junqi@jlu.edu.cn
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-025-3290-1
  CLC：
- Received：21 November 2024，
  
  Revised：2024-12-31，
  
  Accepted：07 January 2025，
  
  Online First：18 February 2025，
  
  Published：01 March 2025
- Accepted：
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Pan, H. Y.; Fang, X.; Li, Y. X.; Li, S. H.; Li, X.; Sun, J. Q. Mechanically robust and degradable poly(urethane-urea) plastics derived from tannic acid and castor oil for enhanced fruit preservation. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2025, 43, 447–456

Hong-Yu Pan, Xu Fang, Yi-Xuan Li, et al. Mechanically Robust and Degradable Poly(urethane-urea) Plastics Derived from Tannic Acid and Castor Oil for Enhanced Fruit Preservation[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2025, 43(3): 447-456.
Pan, H. Y.; Fang, X.; Li, Y. X.; Li, S. H.; Li, X.; Sun, J. Q. Mechanically robust and degradable poly(urethane-urea) plastics derived from tannic acid and castor oil for enhanced fruit preservation. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2025, 43, 447–456 DOI： 10.1007/s10118-025-3290-1.

Hong-Yu Pan, Xu Fang, Yi-Xuan Li, et al. Mechanically Robust and Degradable Poly(urethane-urea) Plastics Derived from Tannic Acid and Castor Oil for Enhanced Fruit Preservation[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2025, 43(3): 447-456. DOI： 10.1007/s10118-025-3290-1.

摘要

Mechanically robust and degradable poly(urethane-urea) plastics for food packaging are fabricated by cross-linking tannic acid (TA) and castor oil. High content of antioxidant TA endows these bio-based plastics enhanced freshness preservation

significantly extending the shelf life of fruits. Meanwhile

these plastics can autonomously degrade into non-toxic species in soil.

Abstract

Traditional packaging plastics derived from fossil fuels for perishable foods have caused severe environmental pollution and resource depletion. To promote sustainable development and reduce wastage of perishable products

there is a significant challenge in developing bio-based packaging plastics that offer excellent preservation

satisfactory mechanical performance

and inherent degradability. In this study

poly(urethane-urea) (PUU) plastics are fabricated using a one-pot p

olyaddition reaction involving castor oil (CO)

tannic acid (TA)

lysine-derived ethyl 2

6-diisocyanatohexanoate (LDI)

and H

O. The resulting PUU plastics demonstrate a high breaking strength of about 32.7 MPa and a strain at break of

ca.

102%. Due to the reversibility of hydrogen bonds

PUU plastics can be easily shaped into various forms. They are non-cytotoxic and suitable for food packaging. With a high TA content of

ca.

38.2 wt%

PUU plastics exhibit excellent antioxidant capacity. Consequently

PUU plastics show outstanding freshness preservation performance

extending the shelf life of cherry tomatoes and winter jujubes for at least 8 days at room temperature. Importantly

PUU plastics can autonomously degrade into non-toxic substances within

ca.

298 days when buried in soil.

关键词

Keywords

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