Preparation and Characterization of Degradable Cellulose-Based Paper with Superhydrophobic, Antibacterial, and Barrier Properties for Food Packaging

A great paradigm for foremost food packaging is to use renewable and biodegradable lignocellulose-based materials instead of plastic. Novel packages were successfully prepared from the cellulose paper by coating a mixture of polylactic acid (PLA) with cinnamaldehyde (CIN) as a barrier screen and nano silica-modified stearic acid (SA/SiO2) as a superhydrophobic layer. As comprehensively investigated by various tests, results showed that the as-prepared packages possessed excellent thermal stability attributed to inorganic SiO2 incorporation. The excellent film-forming characteristics of PLA improved the tensile strength of the manufactured papers (104.3 MPa) as compared to the original cellulose papers (70.50 MPa), enhanced by 47.94%. Benefiting from the rough nanostructure which was surface-modified by low surface energy SA, the contact angle of the composite papers attained 156.3 degrees, owning superhydrophobic performance for various liquids. Moreover, the composite papers showed excellent gas, moisture, and oil bacteria barrier property as a result of the reinforcement by the functional coatings. The Cobb(300s) and WVP of the composite papers were reduced by 100% and 88.56%, respectively, and their antibacterial efficiency was about 100%. As the novel composite papers have remarkable thermal stability, tensile strength, and barrier property, they can be exploited as a potential candidate for eco-friendly, renewable, and biodegradable cellulose paper-based composites for the substitute of petroleum-derived packages.

Automated summary

Using renewable and biodegradable lignocellulose-based materials instead of plastic is a great paradigm for food packaging. In this study, novel packages were prepared using cellulose paper coated with polylactic acid and cinnamaldehyde as a barrier screen, and nano silica-modified stearic acid as a superhydrophobic layer. The results showed that these packages possess excellent thermal stability, improved tensile strength, and barrier property, making them a potential candidate for eco-friendly and renewable food packaging.