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Continuous Processing of Nanocellulose and Polylactic Acid into Multilayer Barrier Coatings
Rajesh Koppolu1, Johanna Lahti2, Tiffany Abitbol3
1Laboratory of Paper Coating and Converting, Center for Functional Materials , Åbo Akademi University , 20500 Turku , Finland.
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
|March 5, 2019
Summary
Combining nanocellulose and polylactic acid (PLA) in multilayer coatings creates a 100% biobased and biodegradable paper packaging with enhanced barrier properties against water vapor, oxygen, and grease.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Polymer Science
- Sustainable Packaging
Background:
- Biobased and biodegradable materials are sought for packaging, but often have limitations.
- Nanocellulose offers excellent grease/oxygen barrier but poor water vapor resistance.
- Polylactic acid (PLA) has good water vapor tolerance but weak oxygen barrier.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a high-performance barrier packaging material by combining nanocellulose and PLA.
- To investigate multilayer coating strategies for improved barrier properties on paperboard.
- To assess the processability and performance of biobased multilayer coatings.
Main Methods:
- Utilized slot-die coating for nanocellulose (microfibrillated cellulose or cellulose nanocrystals) on paperboard.
- Applied subsequent PLA coating via pilot-scale extrusion coating.
- Employed cationic starch precoating and corona treatment to enhance interfacial adhesion.
Main Results:
- Nanocellulose + PLA coatings demonstrated superior water vapor barrier compared to PLA alone, even at 90% relative humidity.
- Oxygen transmission rate was reduced by 98% and heptane vapor transmission by 99% versus PLA-coated paperboard.
- Grease barrier performance improved 5-fold over nanocellulose and 2-fold over PLA alone.
Conclusions:
- Tandem slot-die and extrusion coating of nanocellulose and PLA yields effective multilayer barrier coatings.
- This approach creates a fully biobased and biodegradable paper packaging solution with excellent multi-barrier properties.
- The developed technology addresses limitations of individual biobased materials for advanced packaging applications.
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