Extremely Well-Dispersed Zinc Oxide Nanofluids with Excellent Antibacterial, Antifungal, and Formaldehyde and Toluene Removal Properties

Abstract

Herein, a polymer dispersant is used to modify zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles with the assistance of a self-made dispersion device to produce nanofluids with excellent dispersion. The ZnO nanoparticles can be well dispersed in an aqueous solution in a high proportion (20 wt %). The average size of ZnO nanoparticles dispersed in nanofluids is 86.5 nm. After testing and analysis, the ZnO nanofluids have excellent antibacterial, antifungal, and formaldehyde and toluene removal performance. The antibacterial rate of 4% ZnO (w/v) can reach 99.99%. It has been verified in pure milk that ZnO can well inhibit fungi and deterioration. These satisfactory characteristics of the nanofluids are all attributed to the excellent dispersion of ZnO nanoparticles. In addition, the dispersed ZnO nanoparticles are used to modify polymer materials (polypropylene random and low-density polyethylene), endowing them with excellent antibacterial and mechanical properties. Therefore, they are expected to be used in food packaging materials in the future.