High-Oxygen Barrier Materials Based on Hyperbranched Aliphatic Polyesters

“Layer by layer” technology was used to create transparent, thin and high barrier polyethylene films to use in food packaging. These films were made by inserting successive layers of polyacrylamide and montmorillonite (Cloisite Na+, non-organic modification) grown onto a low density polyethylene (LDPE) film substrate submitted to corona treatment. Excellent oxygen permeability results were reached with only 9 bilayers, with a reduction of 99.92%, compared to the pure polyethylene. This allowed the oxygen barrier film to change from poor to high (3.66 cm3/m2·day), with a total thickness of 48 microns, due to the structure formed over the film to create a tortuous path for oxygen molecules. Optical properties were analysed, showing a ≥92% transparency in all samples. Thermal stability of polyethylene was slightly improved and this was attributed to nanoclays presence forming an insulating layer. The result of this research is a thin structured film which is a good candidate for common barrier films replacement in food packaging thanks to its high oxygen barrier capacity, optical transparency, microwaveability and recyclability.

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Biluminescence Under Ambient Conditions: Water‐Soluble Organic Emitter in High‐Oxygen‐Barrier Polymer

Advanced Optical Materials ◽

10.1002/adom.202000427 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (16) ◽

pp. 2000427 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Marine Louis ◽

Heidi Thomas ◽

Max Gmelch ◽

Felix Fries ◽

Anna Haft ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Soluble ◽

High Oxygen ◽

Oxygen Barrier ◽

Ambient Conditions

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Thermoformable high oxygen barrier multilayer EVOH/LDPE film/foam

Journal of Applied Polymer Science ◽

10.1002/app.48903 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 137 (30) ◽

pp. 48903 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Claudio Souza ◽

Jingxing Feng ◽

Andrew Olah ◽

Gary Wnek ◽

Eric Baer

Keyword(s):

High Oxygen ◽

Oxygen Barrier ◽

Ldpe Film

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From forest residues to hydrophobic nanocomposites with high oxygen-barrier properties

Nordic Pulp & Paper Research Journal ◽

10.3183/npprj-2016-31-02-p261-269 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 31 (2) ◽

pp. 261-269 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Dongfang Li ◽

Rosana Moriana ◽

Monica Ek

Keyword(s):

Barrier Properties ◽

High Oxygen ◽

Oxygen Barrier ◽

Forest Residues

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Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Bacterial Cellulose for the Production of Nanocrystals for the Food Packaging Industry

Nanomaterials ◽

10.3390/nano10040735 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 735

Author(s):

Cesare Rovera ◽

Filippo Fiori ◽

Silvia Trabattoni ◽

Diego Romano ◽

Stefano Farris

Keyword(s):

Enzymatic Hydrolysis ◽

Bacterial Cellulose ◽

Food Packaging ◽

Hydrolytic Activity ◽

High Oxygen ◽

Oxygen Barrier ◽

Final State ◽

Barrier Coatings ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Packaging Industry

Bacterial cellulose nanocrystals (BCNCs) obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis have been loaded in pullulan biopolymer for use as nanoparticles in the generation of high-oxygen barrier coatings intended for food packaging applications. Bacterial cellulose (BC) produced by Komagataeibacter sucrofermentans was hydrolyzed by two different enzymatic treatments, i.e., using endo-1,4-β-glucanases (EGs) from Thermobifida halotolerans and cellulase from Trichoderma reesei. The hydrolytic activity was compared by means of turbidity experiments over a period of 145 h, whereas BCNCs in their final state were compared, in terms of size and morphology, by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS). Though both treatments led to particles of similar size, a greater amount of nano-sized particles (≈250 nm) were observed in the system that also included cellulase enzymes. Unexpectedly, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that cellulose nanoparticles were round-shaped and made of 4–5 short (150–180 nm) piled whiskers. Pullulan/BCNCs nanocomposite coatings allowed an increase in the overall oxygen barrier performance, of more than two and one orders of magnitude (≈0.7 mL·m−2·24 h−1), of pure polyethylene terephthalate (PET) (≈120 mL·m−2·24 h−1) as well as pullulan/coated PET (≈6 mL·m−2·24 h−1), with no significant difference between treatments (hydrolysis mediated by EGs or with the addition of cellulase). BCNCs obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis have the potential to generate high oxygen barrier coatings for the food packaging industry.

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Water-resistant and high oxygen-barrier nanocellulose films with interfibrillar cross-linkages formed through multivalent metal ions

Journal of Membrane Science ◽

10.1016/j.memsci.2015.11.002 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 500 ◽

pp. 1-7 ◽

Cited By ~ 88

Author(s):

Michiko Shimizu ◽

Tsuguyuki Saito ◽

Akira Isogai

Keyword(s):

Metal Ions ◽

High Oxygen ◽

Oxygen Barrier ◽

Multivalent Metal

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Transparent Pullulan/Mica Nanocomposite Coatings with Outstanding Oxygen Barrier Properties

10.20944/preprints201709.0002.v1 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Ilke Uysal Unalan ◽

Derya Boyaci ◽

Silvia Trabattoni ◽

Silvia Tavazzi ◽

Stefano Farris

Keyword(s):

Barrier Properties ◽

Nanocomposite Films ◽

Nanocomposite Coatings ◽

Oxygen Barrier ◽

Barrier Materials ◽

Kinetic Coefficients ◽

Environmental Relative Humidity ◽

Dry Conditions ◽

Functional Features ◽

Clay Layers

This study presents a new bionanocomposite coating on poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) made of pullulan and synthetic mica. Mica nanolayers have a very high aspect ratio (α) at levels much greater than that of conventional exfoliated clay layers (e.g., montmorillonite). A very small amount of mica (0.02 wt%, which is ϕ ≈ 0.00008) in pullulan coatings dramatically improved the oxygen barrier performance of the nanocomposite films under dry conditions, whereas this performance was partly lost as the environmental relative humidity (RH) increased. This outcome was explained in terms of the perturbation of the spatial ordering of mica sheets within the main pullulan phase because of RH fluctuations, as confirmed by modelling of the experimental OTR data according to Cussler’s model. The presence of the synthetic nanobuilding block (NBB) led to a decrease in both static and kinetic coefficients of friction compared with neat PET (≈12% and 23%, respectively) and PET coated with unloaded pullulan (≈ 26% reduction in both coefficients). In spite of the presence of the filler, all of the coating formulations did not significantly impair the overall optical properties of the final material, which exhibited haze values below 3% and transmittance above 85%, with the only exception represented by the formulation with the highest loading of mica (1.5 wt%, which is ϕ ≈ 0.01). These findings revealed, for the first time, the potential of the NBB mica to produce nanocomposite coatings in combination with biopolymers for the generation of new functional features, such as transparent high oxygen barrier materials.

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