A Review on Use of Carbohydrate-based Fillers and Pigments in Packaging Paper

Abstract

As one of traditional packaging materials, paper and paperboard are being more popular and beneficial thanks to their environmental sustainability and have been widely used in packaging applications, from light weight infusible tissue for tea/coffee bags to heavy duty boards for the distribution. Papermakers have to design the products having a desired customized function with their paper machine. Globally, the use of filler and pigment in papermaking is now a very common practice to meet the needs of customers. Many benefits can be achieved as a result of filler addition, which mainly includes cost and energy savings. The replacement of traditional mineral fillers and pigments with biodegradable and renewable carbohydrate polymers is a very interesting and promising research topic due to the concern of environmental impact. In this review paper, the use of traditional and novel carbohydrate fillers and pigments in cellulosic paper is highlighted. It is noteworthy that there are still some challenges and technical barriers associated with the use of these organic materials in point of structural stabilities and manufacturing costs, although most of them are available in market as the commercialized products. With the emerging nanotechnologies, it is believed that the use of carbohydrate-based filler and pigment for papermaking will increase and bring technical advantages to industry.