CONTROLLING THE MORPHOLOGY AND DISPERSION OF CELLULOSE NANOMATERIALS FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE BARRIER COATINGS

GoalThe goal of this proposed research is to measure and control the morphology and structure of cellulose nanomaterials (i.e., cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) or cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs)) in coatings to produce high-performance barrier coatings for packaging applications.ObjectivesTo determine the structure of nanocellulose films before, during, and after the drying process for a wide range of coating conditionsTo evaluate the effects of processing conditions and nanocellulose formulations on barrier properties of coated papers and polymer filmsTo model the effect of the coating process, suspension properties, and drying conditions on the structure of nanocellulose filmsTo correlate experimental performance, structure analysis, and modeling results to produce high-performance durable nanocellulose coated barrier papers and filmsTo evaluate the recyclability of nanocellulose coated barrier papers