A study of the barrier properties of polyethylene coated with a nanocellulose/magnetite composite film

Abstract

The morphological, thermal and barrier properties of low-density polyethylene/polycaprolactone-modified nanocellulose hybrid materials were investigated in this paper. Nanonocelulose/magnetite (NC-Fe3O4) nanocomposite and maleic acid functionalized NC/magnetite (NCMA-Fe3O4) nanocomposite were prepared and used as filler at various concentrations (5, 10 and 15 wt. %) in polycaprolactone (PCL) layer. PE was coated with PCL/NC/magnetite layer. The addition of the filler did not unfavorably affect the inherent properties of the polymer, especially its barrier properties. Oxygen permeation measurements show that the oxygen barrier properties of magnetite enriched PCL film were improved due to chemical activity of added material. The highest level of barrier capacity was observed for PE samples coated with PCL based composite with NCMA-Fe3O4 micro/-nanofiller, which implies the significant contribution of nanocellulose surface modification with maleic anhydride residue to improved barrier properties. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. III45019 i br. OI172013]

Keywords

• hybrid materials
• composites
• inorganic filler
• polycaprolactone
• packaging material