Application of Industrially Produced Chitosan in the Surface Treatment of Fibre-Based Material: Effect of Drying Method and Number of Coating Layers on Mechanical and Barrier Properties

Abstract

Chitosan is a versatile biopolymer with many interesting functionalities. Its effects on the barrier and mechanical properties of single- or double-coated fibre-based packaging papers in dependence on the applied drying regime were successfully tested. Our investigations revealed chitosan to be a highly robust biopolymer, since the different drying regimes did not alter its contribution to the development of strength and barrier properties of the coated packaging papers. These properties showed a stronger influence of the applied coat weights than of the different drying regimes. The effect of chitosan coatings were quantified by measuring tensile strength (TS), burst strength (BS) and tensile energy absorption (TEA). These revealed that TS, BS and TEA of the coated papers increased significantly. Moreover, the chitosan-coated papers were less permeable against water vapor and air. High grease resistance was observed for double-coated papers, irrespective of the drying regimes. The coated paper surface showed a more hydrophilic character, resulting in lower contact angles and higher water absorption properties. In this study, industrially produced chitosan has been proven to be a renewable, robust biopolymer that can be utilized as an additive to increase strength and the barrier properties of fibre-based materials.

Chitosan Grafted Adsorbents for Diclofenac Pharmaceutical Compound Removal from Single-Component Aqueous Solutions and Mixtures

“…A very promising adsorbent material, which recently is widely used, is chitosan [21,22,23,24,25]. Chitosan (poly-β-(1 → 4)-2-amino-2-deoxy- d -glucose) has the advantage of easy modification (grafting with various functional groups), so it can be easily transformed to the appropriate adsorbent each time.…”

Effect of Different Compatibilizers on Injection-Molded Green Fiber-Reinforced Polymers Based on Poly(lactic acid)-Maleinized Linseed Oil System and Sheep Wool

“…Nowadays, an increased interest can be observed for biodegradable and bio-based materials as an alternative to petroleum-based polymers. Implementation of biomaterials for short-term and disposable applications is crucial for material utilization, as the continuous development of bio-economy in material science might decrease petroleum-based material dependence [1,2,3]. Due to a short life cycle and their renewability, such materials are more and more often considered for industrial application.…”

“…Most common biopolymers used for industrial applications are poly(lactic acid)-PLA, poly(hydroxybutyrate)-PHB and thermoplastic starch-TPS, which represent conventional polymers whose monomers are obtained from agro-resources [8,9]. The demand for biopolymers is frequently caused by the biodegradable character of such materials which allows them to be recycled using an environmentally friendly composting method [1]. Such plastic material can be easily disintegrated in compost conditions resulting in changes from bioplastic into water, carbon dioxide, and hummus, by the action of microorganisms [8,10].…”

Comparison of the Functional Barrier Properties of Chitosan Acetate Films with Conventionally Applied Polymers

“…However, if only applied as a barrier against migration from secondary or tertiary (recycled) cellulose-based packaging and for dry non-fatty food, direct contact to moisture should not occur. Initial results of our studies have already been published and chitosan was identified to be one of the best performing materials [ 20 , 21 , 22 ]. It is a positively-charged polysaccharide, which is derived from deacetylation of chitin.…”

“…Gas chromatography-based techniques are applied to characterize the migrated fractions: gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (GC-FID) is used to determine the overall migration of volatile compounds, gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for quantification of permeation and online-coupling of high-performance liquid chromatography-gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (HPLC-GC-FID) is used to determine the migration of MOH. The experiment was only introduced shortly before and used for the screening of the barrier properties of coated paper samples [ 20 , 21 , 22 ]. Therefore, the second aim of this study is to extend the field of application to free-standing films and to further evaluate the methods capabilities.…”