Plastic films, widely used in food packaging, remain largely unrecyclable due to material composition and processing challenges. This work presents a compostable packaging system that retains the essential properties of traditional plastic films while ensuring complete environmental degradability. This system features a biodegradable polymer (such as polylactic acid) film coated with an inorganic nanosheet/polymer nanocomposite via a one-step coassembly process, during which the nanosheets can be well-aligned by either gravity or a physical force exerted by common industrial processing tools. The polymer serves as the binder for the nanosheets to form a hybrid coating with a highly ordered layered structure, which has demonstrated exceptional mechanical and barrier properties in preliminary testing. This approach achieves gas barrier properties comparable or superior to current commercial products while maintaining compatibility with existing manufacturing infrastructure, cost-effectiveness, and full compostability—offering a sustainable alternative to conventional plastic packaging.
