Development of advanced cellulose paper materials and products to replace single-use plastics for packaging applications

拟议研究计划的长期目标是开发实用和可扩展的工艺/技术，以生产具有理想机械和屏障性能的绿色纤维素纸制品，以取代包装应用中的一次性塑料（SUP），从而减少塑料废物的排放。随着全球气候变化，塑料污染和环境污染已成为日益严重的全球性问题。减少SUP浪费的一种实用方法是使用绿色替代材料，如纤维素纸，它具有优异的可持续性、可再生性、可回收性和生物降解性。短期目标是开发绿色方法/工艺来改善纤维素纸的阻隔性能。纤维素纸通常具有良好的机械强度性能，但由于其多孔结构和纤维素纤维的高亲水性，对液体、气体和水蒸气的阻隔性能较差。纤维素纸较差的阻隔性能阻碍了其在包装应用中的增长。具体而言，当前提案的目标是提高纤维素纸的阻隔性能，以抵抗1)液态水渗透，2)油/脂渗透，3)氧气和4)水蒸气传输。建议的方法包括：1)开发绿色涂层材料和工艺，通过在纸表面创建疏水微纳米结构来赋予纸制品超疏水性；2)在纸张表面涂布纤维素材料，包括纤维素纳米晶体（CNC）和纤维素纳米原纤维（CNF），形成致密的阻隔膜，防止油的渗透和氧气、水蒸气的透射；3)通过减小孔径和孔隙度，增加孔隙扭曲度和表面疏水性转变，增加气体分子的扩散路径。疏水纸材料将具有高水平的防水包装应用，由于超疏水表面，这是足够坚韧，通过包装应用维持，但将减少在再制浆/再循环的剪切力下的再制浆过程。拟议的研究计划将导致新技术的发展，以生产具有理想的机械和屏障性能的绿色包装应用的新型生物基阻隔纸产品，使用加拿大生产的木浆和纸制品。这些技术将使加拿大纸浆和造纸公司能够以更低的成本生产高价值的纤维素纸产品，并减少对环境的影响。研究结果还将缓解人们对环境中塑料废物积累日益增长的生态担忧。

The long-term objective of the proposed research program is to develop practical and scalable processes/technologies to produce green cellulose paper products with desirable mechanical and barrier properties to replace single-use plastics (SUP) for packaging applications, thereby reducing plastic waste emissions. Plastics pollution and contamination of the environment have become increasingly serious global problems along with global climate change. A practical way to reduce SUP waste is to use green alternative materials such as cellulose paper, which has excellent sustainability, renewability, recyclability, and biodegradability. The short-term objectives are to develop green methods/processes to improve the barrier properties of cellulose paper. Cellulose paper generally has good mechanical strength properties but poor barrier properties to liquids, gases, and water vapor due to its porous structure and the high hydrophilicity in nature of the cellulose fibers. The inferior barrier properties of cellulose paper are hindering its growth in packaging applications. Specifically, the objectives of the current proposal are to improve the barrier properties of cellulose paper against 1) liquid water penetration, 2) oil/grease penetration, 3) oxygen gas, and 4) water vapor transmission. The proposed approaches include: 1) development of green coating materials and processes to impart superhydrophobicity to paper products by creating hydrophobic micro/nano structure on paper surface; 2) surface coating of paper with cellulose materials including cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) and cellulose nano fibrils (CNF) to form a dense barrier film against oil penetration and oxygen gas and water vapor transmission; 3) increasing the diffusion path of gas molecules by decreasing the pore size and porosity, increasing pore tortuosity and surface hydrophobicity transformation. The hydrophobic paper materials will have high levels of water resistance for packaging applications due to the superhydrophobic surface, which is tough enough to sustain through the packaging application but will diminish in the re-pulping process under the shear force of repulping/recycling. The proposed research program will lead to development of new technologies for the production of novel bio-based barrier paper products with desirable mechanical and barrier properties for green packaging applications, using wood pulp and paper products produced in Canada. These technologies will enable Canadian pulp and paper companies to produce high value cellulose paper products at a lower cost and with less environmental impact. The outcomes will also mitigate growing ecological concerns on the accumulation of plastic waste in the environment.