Silver ion release from Ag/PET hollow fibers: Mathematical model and its application to food packing

Abstract

A food packing system requires an antimicrobial environment with high air permeability to guarantee absolutely both food safety and long and reliable durability. A hollow fiber membrane containing silver ions is the best candidate for this purpose. However, a safe and controllable release process has become a pressing issue in the practical application. Here, we use the predator–prey model to predict the antimicrobial activity of silver ions released from a hollow fiber, and Staphylococcus aureus was applied to the antibacterial experiment. Both theoretical and experimental results show that there are an optimal concentration of the silver ions and an optimal release time. This article sheds a bright light on the design of a new kind of food packing systems using the hollow fiber membrane.