{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,22]],"date-time":"2026-08-22T04:27:42Z","timestamp":1787372862555,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"16","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,20]],"date-time":"2026-08-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787184000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Anhui Provincial Natural Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars","award":["2508085J022"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2508085J022"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["U23A2081"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["U23A2081"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["U23A2081"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["U23A2081"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01h0zpd94","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Key R&D Program of Anhui Province","award":["2023n06020052"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023n06020052"]}]},{"name":"Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities Special Funding Project","award":["PA2025GDGP0026"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PA2025GDGP0026"]}]},{"name":"National Key Research and Development Program of China","award":["2022YFD2101403"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022YFD2101403"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Foods"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study aimed to systematically evaluate the effects of the Zein\/poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) blend ratio on the formation, structure, and performance of electrospun nanofiber membranes and to further assess the feasibility of incorporating bromothymol blue (BTB) into the optimized matrix as a pH-responsive functional component for intelligent food-packaging applications. Increasing PVDF content reduced the conductivity but increased the viscosity of the spinning solutions, and all formulations exhibited shear-thinning behavior. Pure Zein failed to form continuous fibers, whereas PVDF incorporation promoted uniform fibrous networks, with average fiber diameters increasing from 113.02 \u00b1 27.06 nm to 530.68 \u00b1 113.33 nm. FTIR and TGA\/DTG analyses confirmed the coexistence of Zein and PVDF and the improved thermal stability associated with increasing PVDF content. Surface hydrophobicity and water resistance increased with PVDF content, whereas water vapor permeability (WVP) and water solubility (WS) increased with the Zein proportion. Considering spinnability, morphology, mechanical behavior, barrier performance, and water stability, the Zein\/PVDF = 5:5 formulation provided a comparatively balanced performance and was selected as the functional carrier matrix. Incorporation of BTB into this matrix produced a distinct pH-responsive color change, and the color difference (\u0394E) showed a strong correlation with shrimp pH during storage (R2 = 0.997), demonstrating the feasibility of the optimized membrane as a freshness-responsive functional carrier.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/foods15162909","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,20]],"date-time":"2026-08-20T08:10:20Z","timestamp":1787213420000},"page":"2909","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Construction and Performance Evaluation of Zein\/PVDF Electrospun Nanofiber Membranes as Functional Carriers for Food Packaging"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8464-844X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fei","family":"Yao","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Food and Biological Engineering, Engineering Research Center of Bio-Process, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230601, Anhui, China"},{"name":"College of Food Science and Technology, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450001, Henan, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yishuang","family":"Dong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Food Science and Technology, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450001, Henan, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chan","family":"Jin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Food Science and Technology, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450001, Henan, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zihao","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Food Science and Technology, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450001, Henan, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8386-5939","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Changhong","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Food and Biological Engineering, Engineering Research Center of Bio-Process, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230601, Anhui, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fusheng","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Food Science and Technology, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450001, Henan, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2863","DOI":"10.1002\/adfm.200900591","article-title":"Electrospinning of Manmade and Biopolymer Nanofibers\u2014Progress in Techniques, Materials, and Applications","volume":"19","author":"Agarwal","year":"2009","journal-title":"Adv. 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