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ARS Home » Southeast Area » New Orleans, Louisiana » Southern Regional Research Center » Cotton Fiber Bioscience and Utilization Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #385918
Research Project: Innovative Approaches for Value Added Cotton-Containing Nonwovens

Location: Cotton Fiber Bioscience and Utilization Research

Title: One-step coassembled nanocoatings on paper for potential packaging applications

Author
item CHAVEZ, SONIA - University Of Connecticut
item DING, HAO - University Of Connecticut
item WILLIAMS, BRANDON - University Of Connecticut
item Nam, Sunghyun
item HOU, ZAILI - University Of Connecticut
item ZHANG, DONGQIAO - University Of Connecticut
item SUN, LUYI - University Of Connecticut

Submitted to: ES Materials & Manufacturing
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/13/2021
Publication Date: 12/15/2021
Citation: Chavez, S.E., Ding, H., Williams, B.L., Nam, S., Hou, Z., Zhang, D., Sun, L. 2021. One-step coassembled nanocoatings on paper for potential packaging applications. ES Materials & Manufacturing. 15:72-77.

Interpretive Summary: Due to plastic pollution, there is an increasing interest in replacing plastic films with paper for food packaging. To meet the requirement of packaging, we modified two types of papers to improve their barrier properties. Using a sonication and dip-coating method, the surface of the papers was coated with nanocoating. The coated papers exhibit the improved water vapor barrier property and enhanced flame retardancy. This study indicates that applying nanocoating is a promising approach to improve the barrier properties of paper for potential packaging applications.

Technical Abstract: In this study, a sonication and dip-coating method was developed to deposit a PVA/MMT nanocoating on two representative paper substrates: regular paper and cotton paper. The coated paper substrates were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), water vapor transmission rate (WVTR), and microscale combustion calorimetry (MCC). The XRD results supported the formation of well-aligned MMT nanosheets on the paper substrates and their SEM images show that most pores on the substrates were covered by the nanocoating. The coated paper exhibited a significant decrease in WVTR and an increase in flame retardancy.