Shen Zhiwei, Yang Yihan, Hu Shufeng, Kong Weiqing
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Fiber Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China.
Materials (Basel). 2025 Jun 11;18(12):2741. doi: 10.3390/ma18122741.
To mitigate the serious environmental impact caused by the persistent accumulation of plastics, replacing conventional plastics with paper-based alternatives has emerged as a promising trend. In response to the environmental and health concerns associated with petrochemical-based plastic meal boxes and fluorinated water- and oil-repellent agents, this study proposes a sustainable, fluorine-free coating technology based on chitosan to enhance the water and oil resistance of molded-paper pulp meal boxes. By adjusting the degree of deacetylation and the solution concentration of chitosan, coated meal boxes were fabricated via a spraying method. The results demonstrate that coatings prepared with highly deacetylated (>95%) and concentrated (4% /) chitosan significantly improve barrier properties, achieving a water contact angle of 114.9° ± 3°, the highest oil-resistance rating (12/12) according to TAPPI standards, and stable resistance to 95 °C hot oil for up to 30 min without leakage. In addition, the coated samples exhibit enhanced mechanical strength (21.26 MPa) and excellent biodegradability. This work provides a cost-efficient and eco-friendly disposable food packaging solution, facilitating the sustainable substitution of petrochemical-based plastics.
为减轻塑料持续积累所造成的严重环境影响，用纸质替代品取代传统塑料已成为一种很有前景的趋势。针对与石化基塑料饭盒及含氟拒水拒油剂相关的环境与健康问题，本研究提出一种基于壳聚糖的可持续无氟涂层技术，以增强模制纸浆饭盒的防水防油性。通过调整壳聚糖的脱乙酰度和溶液浓度，采用喷涂法制备了涂层饭盒。结果表明，用高度脱乙酰化（>95%）且浓缩（4%/）的壳聚糖制备的涂层显著改善了阻隔性能，水接触角达到114.9°±3°，根据美国制浆造纸工业技术协会（TAPPI）标准达到最高耐油性等级（12/12），并且对95°C热油具有长达30分钟的稳定耐受性且无渗漏。此外，涂层样品表现出增强的机械强度（21.26兆帕）和优异的生物降解性。这项工作提供了一种经济高效且环保的一次性食品包装解决方案，有助于可持续替代石化基塑料。
