{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]],"date-time":"2026-09-29T03:05:45Z","timestamp":1790651145788,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,7]],"date-time":"2026-03-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1772841600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000001","name":"NSF Future Eco Manufacturing Research program","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["CMMI-2037097"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CMMI-2037097"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000001","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Rowan University Seed Research Grant"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The replacement of petroleum-based plastics with sustainable and biodegradable materials remains a critical challenge for food packaging and biomedical applications. Gelatin is an attractive natural biopolymer for film fabrication; however, its inherent brittleness, moisture sensitivity, and limited structural stability restrict practical use. In this work, for the first time, low-power direct-probe ultrasonication is introduced as a green and additive-free strategy to regulate molecular organization and enhance the performance of gelatin\u2013glycerol composite films. Systematic variation in ultrasonic power and treatment duration revealed a strong dependence of film structure and properties on processing conditions. Low-power ultrasonication (20 W) promoted gelatin\u2013glycerol interactions, induced a transition from loosely organized molecular arrangements to helix-like molecular packing at the nanometer scale, and produced smooth, compact microscale surface morphologies. As a result, these films exhibited enhanced hydrophilicity, reduced surface defects, and improved thermal stability. In contrast, high-power ultrasonication generated excessive cavitation, leading to large-scale porous structures and diminished thermal and surface performance. Therefore, this work identifies a distinct low-power ultrasonic window that enables controlled molecular reorganization and hierarchical structure formation in gelatin\u2013glycerol systems. Structural and physicochemical analyses using SEM, FTIR, XRD, water contact angle measurements, and thermogravimetric analysis collectively elucidate the ultrasound-driven structure\u2013property relationships within the gelatin\u2013glycerol matrix. Overall, this study demonstrates that controlled ultrasonication enables precise tuning of gelatin-based film architecture and properties, offering a scalable and environmentally friendly route to high-performance biodegradable materials for sustainable packaging and biomedical applications.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms27052469","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,9]],"date-time":"2026-03-09T10:16:12Z","timestamp":1773051372000},"page":"2469","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Ultrasound-Regulated Molecular Reorganization and Property Enhancement in Gelatin\u2013Glycerol Films"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"27","author":[{"given":"Dhruvi","family":"Parmar","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ 08028, USA"},{"name":"Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ 08028, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2579-2820","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xiao","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ 08028, USA"},{"name":"Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ 08028, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"134455","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scitotenv.2019.134455","article-title":"Environmental exposure to microplastics: An overview on possible human health effects","volume":"702","author":"Prata","year":"2020","journal-title":"Sci. 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