Abstract

A degradable packaging material has advantages over a nonbiodegradable material due to the cause of serious environmental problem. The film of a degradable renewable polymer such as starch is a low-cost, eco-friendly, highly abundant, nontoxic material with appreciable binding properties. However, the mechanical, thermal, fire retardant, and barrier properties of starch are substantially improved with the reinforcement of layered nanodimension material. Due to the layered structure of fillers, starch-based sandwiched bionanocomposites are formed with uniform dispersion of nanoplatelets; hence, gas permeability of the bionanocomposite film is reduced significantly to enable the material for packaging application. In this entry, the mechanism of food packaging nature of film with important properties that are required for enabling the material for food packaging applications is discussed. Various layered materials such as nanoclay, graphene oxide, boron nitride, layered double hydroxide (LDH), and ceramic layered materials are included in this entry in order to compare their nature of reinforcement in starch matrix.