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Improving the water resistance of nanocellulose-based films with polyhydroxyalkanoates processed by the electrospinning coating technique

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Abstract

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) comprise a family of biodegradable aliphatic polyesters with enhanced sustainable profile and high water vapor barrier. As environmentally friendly materials, nanostructured cellulose-based films, also called nanopapers, such as films made of cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) and lignocellulose nanofibrils (LCNFs), are also of growing interest due to their high mechanical strength and outstanding oxygen barrier properties at dry conditions. Unfortunately, nanopapers are highly hydrophilic, lacking of sufficient moisture resistance for uses in, for instance, food packaging. The present study reports, for the first time, on the effect of electrospun poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) double side coatings on the morphology, water contact angle, mechanical properties, and barrier performance of CNF and LCNF films. The resultant multilayer structures showed significantly improved water contact resistance, more balanced mechanical properties, and higher barrier performance against water vapor in comparison to the neat nanopapers. Although the PHA-coated nanopapers presented slightly lower aroma barrier due to the intrinsic affinity of PHA for limonene uptake, these sustainable multilayer films further improved the oxygen performance of the nanopapers, showing significant potential as barrier materials even at high humidity conditions. As a result, the here-developed novel films, based on nanopapers double side coated with electrospun PHB and PHBV layers, appear as a very promising fully bio-based material concept for food packaging applications due to their outstanding water vapor and oxygen barrier performance.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) project AGL2015-63855-C2-1-R for financial support. Adriane Cherpinski also acknowledges the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action FP1405 for funding through a Short Term Scientific Mission (STSM) and the Brazilian Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) of the Brasilian Government for her predoctoral scholarship (205955/2014-2).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Novel Materials and Nanotechnology Group, Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology (IATA), Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), Paterna, Spain

    Adriane Cherpinski, Sergio Torres-Giner & Jose M. Lagaron

  2. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, Espoo, Finland

    Jari Vartiainen, Maria Soledad Peresin & Panu Lahtinen

  3. Forest Products Development Center, School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA

    Maria Soledad Peresin

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  1. Adriane Cherpinski
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  2. Sergio Torres-Giner
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  4. Maria Soledad Peresin
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  5. Panu Lahtinen
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  6. Jose M. Lagaron
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Correspondence to Jose M. Lagaron.

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Cherpinski, A., Torres-Giner, S., Vartiainen, J. et al. Improving the water resistance of nanocellulose-based films with polyhydroxyalkanoates processed by the electrospinning coating technique. Cellulose 25, 1291–1307 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-018-1648-z

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