Development of Multifunctional Coatings Using Cellulose Nanocrystals and Nanofibers onto Paper Substrates for Food Packaging Applications

Overall goal: to exploit the unique properties of cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) and cellulose nanofiber (CNF) aerogels in the development of multifunctional coatings onto cellulose substrates. This will lead to the production of innovative food packaging that protects foodstuffs from moisture and heat while maintaining mechanical integrity.Objectives:1. Incorporate in-house prepared CNC and CNF into standard paper coating formulations, to study the physiciochemical properties of the resulting precursor suspension. This objective will enable interactions between CNC/CNF and the remaining standard coating formulation to be optimized such that it can be successfully coated onto paper substrates.2. Generate multifunctionality of paper coatings with respect to superhydophobicity, thermal resistance and mechanical properties utilizing unique nano-additives and process variables to tune these properties. This objective will confirm the multifunctional performance of the prepared coatings, and will feed back to the first objective for modifications as needed in order to optimize all three functionalities.