Nanotechnology for bioplastics: opportunities, challenges and strategies

Recent years have witnessed a tremendous expansion of research and technology developments in the nanotechnology field resulting in significant application developments in the food and agricultural areas. This is particularly the case of the food packaging field, where significant advances in the nanoreinforcement of biobased materials provide a more solid ground towards increasing the technical and economical competitiveness of renewable polymers for different applications. However, there is still a long way to go, not only in the materials development and energy consumption minimization parcels, but also regarding the widespread commercialization of these novel nanostructured biopolymers and the full characterization of any particular potential toxicological and environmental impacts. In this paper, the current situation of these novel nanobiostructured packaging materials is described, together with the global challenges to be faced and the possible strategies to overcome some of the pending issues in this exciting and potentially world changing research and development area.