Can pure cellulose nanofibril films replace polyolefins as water vapor barriers in packaging?

Hans Estrella Cainglet; Jay R Black; Hashini Udugoda; Naghmeh Nasiri; Gloria Lizeth Diaz-Arenas; Gil Garnier; Warren Batchelor; Joanne Tanner

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2024.09.060

Can pure cellulose nanofibril films replace polyolefins as water vapor barriers in packaging?

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2024 Sep 14;678(Pt C):547-555. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2024.09.060. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Hans Estrella Cainglet¹, Jay R Black², Hashini Udugoda¹, Naghmeh Nasiri¹, Gloria Lizeth Diaz-Arenas¹, Gil Garnier¹, Warren Batchelor¹, Joanne Tanner³

Affiliations

¹ Bioresource Processing Research Institute of Australia, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia.
² School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia; Trace Analysis for Chemical, Earth and Environmental Sciences (TrACEES) Platform, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
³ Bioresource Processing Research Institute of Australia, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia. Electronic address: joanne.tanner@monash.edu.

PMID: 39305622
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2024.09.060

Abstract

Despite significant research into cellulose nanofibril (CNF) films as substitutes to synthetic plastic materials, commercial applications remain very limited. One major hindrance is the poor water vapor barrier properties of CNF films compared to polyolefins, a critical property for product protection, such as food safety and preservation. To date, it is unknown whether full moisture barrier properties can be achieved with materials made by the assembly of nanofibers and fibrils. A comprehensive understanding of the effect of film structure on water vapor transport properties is required. Here, over 200 films were produced with a wide range of grammages from 30 g/m² to 580 g/m² by casting and spray deposition. Their structures were quantified by µCT and SEM and related to their water vapor transmission rates (WVTRs). Porosity and pore connectivity decreased with increasing film grammage, which correlates with the exponential decrease in WVTR. However, the WVTR plateaued at 30 g/m²day, indicating that the known open space and adsorption diffusion mechanisms cannot be fully eliminated by producing high grammage films. Pure cellulose nanofibril films therefore cannot replace polyolefins in packaging applications, requiring modifications such as coating and nanofillers.

Keywords: Cellulose nanofibril films; Cellulose nanofibrils; Microporosity; Packaging; Water vapor barrier; Water vapor transmission rate; X-ray micro-computed tomography.