Advanced Materials for Sustainable Food Packaging: Films, Coatings, Emulsions, and Gels
A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Packaging and Preservation".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 February 2026
Special Issue Editors
Interests: control of water sensitivity in polysaccharide-based films; edible super-hydrophobic functional packaging materials (self-cleaning, anti-adhesion, antibacterial); exploration and utilization of noval starch resources; comprehensive utilization of grains and agricultural wastes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: edible films; functional films; control-release films; food emulsions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: study on the interaction between natural polymers (proteins, polysaccharides, etc.); design and development of food emulsions (pickering); natural polymer-based food packaging materials; natural polymer-based colloidal delivery systems.
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The global demand for innovative and sustainable food packaging materials is rapidly increasing due to growing concerns over food safety, environmental impact, and shelf-life extension. This Special Issue aims to gather cutting-edge research on the development, characterization, and application of advanced materials used in food packaging, particularly focusing on films, coatings, emulsions, and gels. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Biodegradable and edible films and coatings;
- Functional emulsions and hydrogels for active packaging;
- Nanocomposites and barrier-enhancing strategies;
- Antimicrobial and antioxidant agents in packaging systems;
- Smart and responsive packaging technologies;
- Environmental assessment and regulatory considerations;
- Characterization of bio-based polymers that have potential as food packaging;
- The shelf life of packaged food products, storage physicochemical stability during shelf life, and sensory changes during food storage;
- Design and characterization of polysaccharide or protein-based films, hydrogels; encapsulation and delivery of additives or bioactive substances;
We invite original research articles and reviews in the field of food packaging materials. Contributions exploring novel formulation strategies, structure–function relationships, and real-world applications are particularly welcome.
Dr. Ying Chen
Dr. Liang Zhang
Dr. Yi Yuan
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- polysaccharide
- protein
- films
- coatings
- hydrogels
- emulsions
- active packaging
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