Development of Graphitic-Carbon-Nitride-Based Antimicrobial Nanomaterials for Safe Food Processing and Packaging

We aim to design, fabricate, and characterize g-C3N4-based photocatalytic nanomaterials and composites for food processing and packaging, and evaluate their antimicrobial performance for foodborne pathogen control under both indoor lighting and dark conditions, as follows: (1) design g-C3N4 nanomaterials and composites by molecular simulations to enhance photocatalytic inactivation of pathogens; (2) determine the key properties of g-C3N4-based photocatalytic nanomaterials and composites that impact performance for pathogen inactivation; (3) understand the mechanisms of nano-g-C3N4-based materials for inactivating pathogens; and (4)predict the development and control of pathogenic biofilms on nano-g-C3N4-based polymer composites according to reactive-transport modeling.