scholarly journals Chitin- and cellulose-based sustainable barrier materials: a review

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 919-936
Author(s):  
Zeyang Yu ◽  
Yue Ji ◽  
Violette Bourg ◽  
Mustafa Bilgen ◽  
J. Carson Meredith

AbstractThe accumulation of synthetic plastics used in packaging applications in landfills and the environment is a serious problem. This challenge is driving research efforts to develop biodegradable, compostable, or recyclable barrier materials derived from renewable sources. Cellulose, chitin/chitosan, and their combinations are versatile biobased packaging materials because of their diverse biological properties (biocompatibility, biodegradability, antimicrobial properties, antioxidant activity, non-toxicity, and less immunogenic compared to protein), superior physical properties (high surface area, good barrier properties, and mechanical properties), and they can be assembled into different forms and shapes (powders, fibers, films, beads, sponges, gels, and solutions). They can be either assembled into packaging films or used as fillers to improve the properties of other biobased polymers. Methods such as preparation of composites, multilayer coating, and alignment control are used to further improve their barrier, mechanical properties, and ameliorate their moisture sensitivity. With the growing application of cellulose and chitin-based packaging materials, their biodegradability and recyclability are also discussed in this review paper. The future trends of these biobased materials in packaging applications and the possibility of gradually replacing petroleum-based plastics are analyzed in the “Conclusions” section.

2021 ◽  
pp. 152808372110042
Author(s):  
Partha Sikdar ◽  
Gajanan S Bhat ◽  
Doug Hinchliff ◽  
Shafiqul Islam ◽  
Brian Condon

The objective of this research was to produce elastomeric nonwovens containing cotton by the combination of appropriate process. Such nonwovens are in demand for use in several healthcare, baby care, and adult care products that require stretchability, comfort, and barrier properties. Meltblown fabrics have very high surface area due to microfibers and have good absorbency, permeability, and barrier properties. Spunbonding is the most economical process to produce nonwovens with good strength and physical properties with relatively larger diameter fibers. Incorporating cotton fibers into elastomeric nonwovens can enhance the performance of products, such as absorbency and comfort. There has not been any study yet to use such novel approaches to produce elastomeric cotton fiber nonwovens. A hydroentangling process was used to integrate cotton fibers into produced elastomeric spunbond and meltblown nonwovens. The laminated web structures produced by various combinations were evaluated for their physical properties such as weight, thickness, air permeability, pore size, tensile strength, and especially the stretch recovery. Incorporating cotton into elastic webs resulted in composite structures with improved moisture absorbency (250%-800%) as well as good breathability and elastic properties. The results also show that incorporating cotton can significantly increase tensile strength with improved spontaneous recovery from stretch even after the 5th cycle. Results from the experiments demonstrate that such composite webs with improved performance properties can be produced by commercially used processes.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1468
Author(s):  
Ummu Raihanah Hashim ◽  
Aidah Jumahat ◽  
Mohammad Jawaid

Basalt fibre (BF) is one of the most promising reinforcing natural materials for polymer composites that could replace the usage of glass fibre due to its comparable properties. The aim of adding nanofiller in polymer composites is to enhance the mechanical properties of the composites. In theory, the incorporation of high strength and stiffness nanofiller, namely graphene nanoplatelet (GNP), could create superior composite properties. However, the main challenges of incorporating this nanofiller are its poor dispersion state and aggregation in epoxy due to its high surface area and strong Van der Waals forces in between graphene sheets. In this study, we used one of the effective methods of functionalization to improve graphene’s dispersion and also introducing nanosilica filler to enhance platelets shear mechanism. The high dispersive silica nanospheres were introduced in the tactoids morphology of stacked graphene nanosheets in order to produce high shear forces during milling and exfoliate the GNP. The hybrid nanofiller modified epoxy polymers were impregnated into BF to evaluate the mechanical properties of the basalt fibre reinforced polymeric (BFRP) system under tensile, compression, flexural, and drop-weight impact tests. In response to the synergistic effect of zero-dimensional nanosilica and two-dimensional graphene nanoplatelets enhanced the mechanical properties of BFRP, especially in Basalt fibre + 0.2 wt% GNP/15 wt% NS (BF-H0.2) with the highest increment in modulus and strength to compare with unmodified BF. These findings also revealed that the incorporation of hybrid nanofiller contributed to the improvement in the mechanical properties of the composite. BF has huge potential as an alternative to the synthetic glass fibre for the fabrication of mechanical components and structures.


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 2588
Author(s):  
Mansuri M. Tosif ◽  
Agnieszka Najda ◽  
Aarti Bains ◽  
Grażyna Zawiślak ◽  
Grzegorz Maj ◽  
...  

In recent years, scientists have focused on research to replace petroleum-based components plastics, in an eco-friendly and cost-effective manner, with plant-derived biopolymers offering suitable mechanical properties. Moreover, due to high environmental pollution, global warming, and the foreseen shortage of oil supplies, the quest for the formulation of biobased, non-toxic, biocompatible, and biodegradable polymer films is still emerging. Several biopolymers from varied natural resources such as starch, cellulose, gums, agar, milk, cereal, and legume proteins have been used as eco-friendly packaging materials for the substitute of non-biodegradable petroleum-based plastic-based packaging materials. Among all biopolymers, starch is an edible carbohydrate complex, composed of a linear polymer, amylose, and amylopectin. They have usually been considered as a favorite choice of material for food packaging applications due to their excellent forming ability, low cost, and environmental compatibility. Although the film prepared from bio-polymer materials improves the shelf life of commodities by protecting them against interior and exterior factors, suitable barrier properties are impossible to attain with single polymeric packaging material. Therefore, the properties of edible films can be modified based on the hydrophobic–hydrophilic qualities of biomolecules. Certain chemical modifications of starch have been performed; however, the chemical residues may impart toxicity in the food commodity. Therefore, in such cases, several plant-derived polymeric combinations could be used as an effective binary blend of the polymer to improve the mechanical and barrier properties of packaging film. Recently, scientists have shown their great interest in underutilized plant-derived mucilage to synthesize biodegradable packaging material with desirable properties. Mucilage has a great potential to produce a stable polymeric network that confines starch granules that delay the release of amylose, improving the mechanical property of films. Therefore, the proposed review article is emphasized on the utilization of a blend of source and plant-derived mucilage for the synthesis of biodegradable packaging film. Herein, the synthesis process, characterization, mechanical properties, functional properties, and application of starch and mucilage-based film are discussed in detail.


2021 ◽  
Vol 06 ◽  
Author(s):  
Varun Saxena ◽  
Lalit Pandey ◽  
T. S. Srivatsan

Background: Hydroxyapatite (HAp) is one of the most studied biomimic for biomedical applications. Specially, nano-HAp has been utilized for bone tissue engineering various orthopedic applications. HAp possesses various suitable properties such as bioactivity, biodegradability and cell proliferation efficiency for bone tissue engineering applications. Yet, lacks in self-antibacterial activity, high surface area and target efficiency. Results: In this directioon, researchers have focused on exploring the required surface as well as the inherent properties of HAp at the nanoscale. These properties are largely dependent on the composition, size and morphology of the nano-HAp. Hence, nano-HAp has been found to be an excellent candidate with an attractive combination of properties for selection and use in biomedical applications, those required to enhanced biological responses. Further, depending on the type of application, these factors can be tuned to optimize the performance. Conclusion: In this review article, we focus on the chemical structure of HAp and the routes chosen and used for the synthesis of the nano-HAp. The role of various parameters in controlling synthesis at the nanoscale are presented and briefly discussed. In addition, we provide an overview of the various applications for the pristine and doped nano-HAp with recent examples in areas spanning the following: (i) bone tissue engineering applications, (ii) drug delivery applications, (iii) surface coatings, and (iv) scaffolds. The effect of chemical composition on the mechanical properties, surface properties and biological properties are also highlighted. Nano-HAp is found to be highly proficient for its biomedical applications, especially for bone tissue engineering applications. The nano-sized properties enhances the biological responses. The dopant ions that replaces the Ca ion into the hydroxyapatite (HAp) lattice plays a crucial role in its biomedical applications


2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 431-443
Author(s):  
Swetha Andra ◽  
Satheesh kumar Balu ◽  
Rajalakshmi Ramamoorthy ◽  
Murugesan Muthalagu ◽  
Devisri Sampath ◽  
...  

Wound healing properties of some herbs have been known for decades. Recently, electrospun mats have been used as a wound dressing material due to the high surface area of fiber and ease of incorporation of drug into the fiber matrix. In this aspect, the incorporation of herbal extracts in electrospun matrix could provide synergistic effect for wound healing. In the present work, extracts from Cissus quadrangularis (CQ) and Galinsoga parviflora Cav (GP) were loaded into the PVA solution in different proportions. These solutions were used to produce nanofibrous mat in electrospinning and the characteristics of the mat were analyzed. The morphology of the fiber was analyzed using scanning electron microscope (SEM), the presence of functional groups was identified using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The result of drug release shows that the GP extract loaded PVA nanofibrous mat has sustained drug release of 28% after 8 h of incubation compared to CQ loaded PVA nanofibrous mat. This trend follows as the concentration of GP increases in the mixture. The antimicrobial efficiency of the prepared mat was evaluated against both Gram-negative bacteria E. coli and Gram-positive bacteria S. aureus. The prepared nanofibrous mat has shown excellent antibacterial activity, cell viability, hemocompatibility, and sufficient tensile properties which indicates that it could be a promising biomaterial for wound dressing application.


2019 ◽  
Vol 274 ◽  
pp. 05004
Author(s):  
Zhiyuan Lin ◽  
Ding Fan ◽  
Shangtong Yang

Cementitious nano-composites have recently attracted considerable research interest in order to improve their properties such as strength and durability. Graphene oxide (GO) is being considered as an ideal candidate for enhancing the mechanical properties of the cement due to its good dispersion property and high surface area. Much of work has been done on experimentally investigating the mechanical properties of GO-cementitious composites; but there are currently no models for accurate estimation of their mechanical properties, making proper analysis and design of GO-cement based materials a major challenge. This paper attempts to develop a novel multi-scale analytical model for predicting the elastic modulus of GO-cement taking into account the GO/cement ratio, porosity and mechanical properties of different phases. This model employs Eshelby tensor and Mori-Tanaka solution in the process of upscaling the elastic properties of GO-cement through different length scales. In-situ micro bending tests were conducted to elucidate the behavior of the GO-cement composites and verify the proposed model. The obtained results showed that the addition of GO can change the morphology and enhance the mechanical properties of the cement. The developed model can be used as a tool to determine the elastic properties of GO-cement through different length scales.


2001 ◽  
Vol 206-213 ◽  
pp. 1965-1968 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhen-Yan Deng ◽  
Takayuki Fukasawa ◽  
Guo Jun Zhang ◽  
Motohide Ando ◽  
Tatsuki Ohji

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Schmid ◽  
Kerstin Dallmann ◽  
Elodie Bugnicourt ◽  
Dario Cordoni ◽  
Florian Wild ◽  
...  

In case of food packaging applications, high oxygen and water vapour barriers are the prerequisite conditions for preserving the quality of the products throughout their whole lifecycle. Currently available polymers and/or biopolymer films are mostly used in combination with barrier materials derived from oil based plastics or aluminium to enhance their low barrier properties. In order to replace these non-renewable materials, current research efforts are focused on the development of sustainable coatings, while maintaining the functional properties of the resulting packaging materials. This article provides an introduction to food packaging requirements, highlights prior art on the use of whey-based coatings for their barriers properties, and describes the key properties of an innovative packaging multilayer material that includes a whey-based layer. The developed whey protein formulations had excellent barrier properties almost comparable to the ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymers (EVOH) barrier layer conventionally used in food packaging composites, with an oxygen barrier (OTR) of <2 [cm³(STP)/(m²d bar)] when normalized to a thickness of 100 μm. Further requirements of the barrier layer are good adhesion to the substrate and sufficient flexibility to withstand mechanical load while preventing delamination and/or brittle fracture. Whey-protein-based coatings have successfully met these functional and mechanical requirements.


RSC Advances ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (33) ◽  
pp. 19143-19162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dinesh K. Patel ◽  
Sayan Deb Dutta ◽  
Ki-Taek Lim

Nanocellulose, derived from cellulose hydrolysis, has unique optical and mechanical properties, high surface area, and good biocompatibility.


2020 ◽  
pp. 27-40
Author(s):  
Galina Nikolaevna Melnikova ◽  

The article discusses issues related to the creation and use of packaging materials for different types of products, including those specially designed for placing medical devices in them, before sterilization. The changes taking place related to the improvement of the barrier properties of packages to extend the preservation period of sterility of medical devices (both new types and complex in design) sterilized by different methods are noted. It is shown how over the course of several years new materials have been developed, technologies/methods of processing and reprocessing of raw materials and materials have changed, which make it possible to obtain packaging materials of different chemical nature and properties. Changes in existing packages from traditional materials (metal) to of single-use sterilization packages of a new generation with improved manufacturing technologies that provide mechanical, barrier and antimicrobial properties of packages differing in types, sizes, material properties are noted. The priority in the use of packaging materials for medical devices remains for materials that meet the requirements of GOST ISO 11607 "Packaging for medical devices subject to terminal sterilization", since the standard imposes more stringent requirements for the execution of packaging materials.


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