The Application of Polysaccharides and Their Derivatives in Pigment, Barrier, and Functional Paper Coatings

Abstract

As one of the most abundant natural polymers in nature, polysaccharides have the potential to replace petroleum-based polymers that are difficult to degrade in paper coatings. Polysaccharide molecules have a large number of hydroxyl groups that can bind strongly with paper fibers through hydrogen bonds. Chemical modification can also effectively improve the mechanical, barrier, and hydrophobic properties of polysaccharide-based coating layers and thus can further improve the related properties of coated paper. Polysaccharides can also give paper additional functional properties by dispersing and adhering functional fillers, e.g., conductive particles, catalytic particles or antimicrobial chemicals, onto paper surface. Based on these, this paper reviews the application of natural polysaccharides, such as cellulose, hemicellulose, starch, chitosan, and sodium alginate, and their derivatives in paper coatings. This paper analyzes the improvements and influences of chemical structures and properties of polysaccharides on the mechanical, barrier, and hydrophobic properties of coated paper. This paper also summarizes the researches where polysaccharides are used as the adhesives to adhere inorganic or functional fillers onto paper surface to endow paper with great surface properties or special functions such as conductivity, catalytic, antibiotic, and fluorescence.

An Efficient Approach to Prepare Water-Redispersible Starch Nanocrystals from Waxy Potato Starch

“…Starch is an abundant biopolymer which comes mainly from grains and tubers and is totally biodegradable [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. The preparation and utilization of starch nanocrystals (SNCs) originating from starch granules has been extensively studied for many years [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ].…”

Highly Stable Pickering Emulsions with Xylan Hydrate Nanocrystals

“…Original xylans in plants are in an amorphous state [4], but deacetylated and low-branched xylans can form a crystalline structure with solvent molecules, such as water and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) [5][6][7]. Due to the insufficient studies on xylan crystallization, the applications of xylans have been mainly focused on bulk applications, such as films and coatings [8,9]. However, xylan crystallization affects its solubility and viscosity [10] and is detrimental to its water cast film formation [6], adding inconsistency and uncertainty to its bulk applications.…”

The in vitro and in vivo Antioxidant and Immunomodulatory Activity of Incomplete Degradation Products of Hemicellulosic Polysaccharide (Galactomannan) From Sesbania cannabina

“…Hemicellulosic polysaccharides from different biomass have been applied in various fields (Li et al, 2020;Xiang et al, 2020). Recently, numerous in vitro experiments about natural polysaccharides from different biomass have confirmed that they can not only enhance immunity but also suppress excessive immune responses caused by various stimuli (Tang et al, 2019).…”