TY - JOUR
T1 - Using gelatin protein to facilitate paper thermoformability
AU - Khakalo, Alexey
AU - Filpponen, Ilari
AU - Johansson, Leena Sisko
AU - Vishtal, Alexey
AU - Lokanathan, Arcot R.
AU - Rojas, Orlando J.
AU - Laine, Janne
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was carried out under the Academy of Finland’s Centres of Excellence Programme (2014–2019) and it was financially supported by the Finnish Bioeconomy Cluster (FiBiC LTD). Dr. Joseph Campbell (Aalto University) is acknowledged for the assistance in XPS measurements. Stora Enso is acknowledged for providing the SEM images.
PY - 2014/12
Y1 - 2014/12
N2 - One of the main challenges of fiber-based packaging materials is the relatively poor elongation of cellulose under stress, which limits formability and molding in related products. Therefore, in this investigation we first used cellulose thin films and surface sensitive tools such as quartz crystal microbalance (QCM-D), surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to evaluate the cellulose-gelatin interactions. It was found that the highest adsorption of gelatin onto cellulose occurred at the isoelectric pH of the protein. Based on this and other results, a gelatin loading is proposed to facilitate molecular and surface interactions and, thus to improve the formability of cellulose-based materials in paper molding. Aqueous gelatin solutions were sprayed on the surface of wet webs composed of softwood fibers and the chemical and mechanical changes that occurred were quantified. Upon gelatin treatment the elongation and tensile strength of paper under unrestrained drying was increased by ∼50% (from ∼10% to 14%) and by ∼30% (from 59 to 78 N m/g), respectively. The mechanical performance of gelatin-treated fibers was further improved by glutaraldehyde-assisted cross-linking. The proposed approach represents an inexpensive and facile method to improve the plasticity of fiber networks, which otherwise cannot be processed in the production of packaging materials by direct thermoforming.
AB - One of the main challenges of fiber-based packaging materials is the relatively poor elongation of cellulose under stress, which limits formability and molding in related products. Therefore, in this investigation we first used cellulose thin films and surface sensitive tools such as quartz crystal microbalance (QCM-D), surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to evaluate the cellulose-gelatin interactions. It was found that the highest adsorption of gelatin onto cellulose occurred at the isoelectric pH of the protein. Based on this and other results, a gelatin loading is proposed to facilitate molecular and surface interactions and, thus to improve the formability of cellulose-based materials in paper molding. Aqueous gelatin solutions were sprayed on the surface of wet webs composed of softwood fibers and the chemical and mechanical changes that occurred were quantified. Upon gelatin treatment the elongation and tensile strength of paper under unrestrained drying was increased by ∼50% (from ∼10% to 14%) and by ∼30% (from 59 to 78 N m/g), respectively. The mechanical performance of gelatin-treated fibers was further improved by glutaraldehyde-assisted cross-linking. The proposed approach represents an inexpensive and facile method to improve the plasticity of fiber networks, which otherwise cannot be processed in the production of packaging materials by direct thermoforming.
KW - Cellulose modification
KW - Gelatin
KW - Packaging
KW - Paper extensibility
KW - Paper formability
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84912527889&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.reactfunctpolym.2014.09.024
DO - 10.1016/j.reactfunctpolym.2014.09.024
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84912527889
SN - 1381-5148
VL - 85
SP - 175
EP - 184
JO - Reactive and Functional Polymers
JF - Reactive and Functional Polymers
ER -