Development of polylactic acid aluminized film/cellulosic paper composite paper-based material for herba houttuyniae...

Paper-based materials offer a promising alternative to petroleum-based plastics in food packaging fields due to their eco-friendly attributes and abundance. However, the efficient fabrication of paper-based packaging materials with high barrier performance remains challenge. Herein, a facile method was employed to design the functional composite paper composed of cellulosic paper, polyvinylidene chloride/cellulose nanocrystal coatings, and polylactic acid (PLA) aluminized film. Owning to the hot-pressing compounded process, PLA aluminized film was closely bonded to the surface of cellulosic paper, endowing the paper-based material with excellent mechanical behaviors and barrier performance. The composite paper demonstrated impressive tensile strength of 52.64 MPa, and outstanding barrier properties with water vapor permeability of 1.15 × 10^-12 g·cm/cm²·s·Pa and oxygen permeability of 3.08 × 10^-13 cm³·cm/cm²·s·Pa, showing significantly improved mechanical-barrier properties comparation with original cellulosic paper. Moreover, the composite paper displayed a hydrophobic performance with water contact angle of 108.74° and Cobb value of 1.52 g/m². Benefitting from these advantageous characteristics, the composite paper used as paper packaging exhibited a favorable effect on fresh herba houttuyniae storage, which could extend the shelf life of herba houttuyniae at least 4 days longer under ambient temperature. Thus the green and high-performance composite paper have shown great potential for herbal medicine packaging preservation applications.