A team of researchers from Ohio’s Case Western Reserve University is developing a "smart packaging" system that promises to monitor temperature fluctuations, moisture changes and pathogens in perishable food products while in transit.

According to its developers, the smart packaging system is energy-efficient and could potentially lead to a more cost-effective supply chain for distributors, higher quality foods for consumers and savings for food producers. This is because the packaging is expected to reduce food spoilage, cut costs and ensure food safety.

Source: Nano Energy (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2023.108659

The system reportedly features a self-powered monitoring device that incorporates flexible sensors along with an energy harvester that uses small packets of silica gel pellets as desiccants to absorb moisture in packaging, and harness and store ambient energy.

The researchers explained that the energy produced by the vibrations of the food delivery truck itself power the real-time monitoring system, offering stakeholders digital data about the temperature, moisture and spoilage conditions of the packaged food.

To accomplish this, the Case Western team developed what they have dubbed a desiccant-based triboelectric nanogenerator (D-TENG) to prolong the serving time of the sensing system.

The researchers explained that such triboelectric nanogenerators are energy harvesting devices that convert mechanical energy into electricity. A paperboard-based honeycomb frame devised for storing the desiccant materials now produces electricity thanks to how they move around within the honeycomb frame.

An article detailing the device, “Toward self-powered integrated smart packaging system − Desiccant-based triboelectric nanogenerators,” appears in the journal Nano Energy.