Smart and Sustainable 3D-Printed Nanocellulose-Based Sensors for Food Freshness Monitoring

Annually, about one-third of the food produced around the world is wasted due to spoilage. Food contamination and spoilage, along with the use and disposal of nondegradable packaging materials, impact human health and have huge economic and sustainability implications. Achieving sustainability within the food system requires innovative solutions to reduce the environmental footprint. Herein, we describe the formulation, scalable manufacturing, and characterization of three-dimensional (3D)-printed sensors prepared from a mixture of edible biopolymer hydrogels, 8% alginate, and 10% gelatin and nanocellulose (CNC) as a reinforcement filler. We demonstrate that incorporating CNC improves the overall mechanical performance of the printed film and enables the stabilization of pH-responsive dyes for monitoring the release of total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N), an indicator of food freshness. Mechanical performance enhancement includes increases of 43% in load-depth indentation, 28.2% in hardness, and 17.4% in elastic modulus. This enhancement facilitates its use as a smart label technology, enabling the visual assessment of spoilage when placed inside packaging over a period of 3 days at room temperature. The 3D-printed film exhibits excellent durability, flexibility, shape memory, and robustness, along with pH responsiveness, showing distinctive color changes over the pH range of 2 to 13. These performances are demonstrated in packaged meat and fish, enabling monitoring over several days and illustrating potential as a real-time freshness indicator. The material formulations developed in this work are biodegradable, eco-friendly, and inexpensive, making them suitable candidates for smart and sustainable food packaging.