Enhancement Of Paperboard Performance As Packaging Material By Layering With Plasticized Polyhydroxybutyrate/Nanocellulose Coatings

Paper presents low water vapor barrier capacity that is considered a limitation for its use in packaging applications. Therefore, the effect of using polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB)-based coatings containing a plasticizer [Tributyrin (TB)] and cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) in a bilayer configuration with paperboard is investigated in this work. PHB/paperboard composites are obtained by compression molding. It is found that the addition of TB and CNC in the coating formulation favored both the interaction between layers in the final composite and the enhancement of tensile properties for PHB/paperboard composites. Also, it is proved that water vapor permeation of bilayer composites is reduced by the addition of CNC in the PHB-based layer. Disintegration test of the films has also been carried out under composting conditions, according to the standard ISO 20200, demonstrating that all the studied samples reached more than 90% of disintegration after 49 days of incubation. (c) 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018, 135, 46872.