Characterization of the barrier properties of composites of HDPE and purified cellulose fibers

Abstract

The present work presents and discusses the interrelation between composition, morphology, thermal history, mechanical and barrier properties to oxygen and limonene of composites of HDPE/ MA-PE/cellulose fibers of significant interest in, among others, food packaging applications. From the overall results, it was observed that increasing the loading of purified alpha-cellulose fibers in the polyethylene matrix beyond 10 wt.% led to a decrease in the permeability coefficient of D-limonene, effect which was found to be primarily related to a decrease in the overall solubility of this strongly plasticizing aroma component. On the other hand, the oxygen permeability was found to decrease to a significant extend with increasing fiber content beyond 5 wt.%, but this effect was more strongly ascribed to a significant decrease in the diffusion coefficient. Therefore, the fibers are thought to generate a more tortuous path for the non-interacting gas molecules to travel across the composites thickness, even when tested at high relative humidity conditions. Optimum fiber loading levels in terms of overall property balance were found to be around 20 wt.%.

Preparation and characterization of cationic nanofibrillated cellulose from etherification and high-shear disintegration processes

“…However, increased stiffness and decreased damping values were also reported for composites of NFC with apolar polymers like polypropylene, poly(lactic acid) and poly(caprolactone) (Cheng et al 2007;Tingaut et al 2009;Siqueira et al 2009). Further, NFC could also improve barrier properties due to its relatively high crystallinity (Aulin et al 2009) in combination with the ability of NFC to form a dense network (Fendler et al 2007;Syverud and Stenius 2009).…”

Effects of ionizing radiation in ethylene‐vinyl alcohol copolymers and in composites containing microfibrillated cellulose

“…Thus, MFC has been reported to have an acceptably high aspect ratio and, in general, the composites with cellulose derived materials have been observed to improve the mechanical properties of polymer films. [4][5][6][7] However, its hydrophilic nature may diminish the composites performances in contact with moisture, and therefore have to be carefully investigated.…”

The potential of bamboo in the design of polymer composites

“…Because the bacteria were in aqueous solution, the high hydrophobicity of polyethylene may have prevented the growth of colonies rather than the natural antibacterial The combination of renewable resources with plastic commodity products in order to reduce the waste associated with their use is particularly relevant to packaging applications 21 . Fendler et al 22 have already reported an increase in the oxygen and limonene barrier properties of HDPE composites containing varying amounts of highly purified alpha cellulose fibers as a filler and maleic anhydride-grafted polyethylene as a compatibilizer.…”