Toward Sustainable PLA-Based Multilayer Complexes with Improved Barrier Properties

6533b82cfe1ef96bd128ec9b

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Toward Sustainable PLA-Based Multilayer Complexes with Improved Barrier Properties

Roberta Pasquarelli Stéphane Fontaine Aurélie Lagorce-tachon Jeancarlo R. Rocca-smith Véronique Aguié-béghin Frédéric Debeaufort Jérôme Rousseau Thomas Karbowiak

subject

plastic material Corona treatment [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]General Chemical Engineering Hot-pressing Wheat gluten emballage alimentaire 02 engineering and technology Hot pressing 01 natural sciences OXYGEN [SPI]Engineering Sciences [physics]CARBON-DIOXIDE chemistry.chemical_compound Surface modification Wheat gluten Polylactic acid Coating ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS POLY(LACTIC ACID)Spin coating sustainable development plastique ANTIMICROBIAL PROPERTIES 021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology Food packaging développement durable Biobased and biodegradable polymers 0210 nano-technology Materials science WATER-VAPOR BARRIER GLASS-TRANSITION PROTEIN ISOLATE Spin coating Nanotechnology engineering.material FILMS 010402 general chemistry 12. Responsible consumption Poly(lactic acid) PLA Environmental Chemistry EFFICIENT GAS Renewable Energy Sustainability and the Environment POLYLACTIC ACID High-pressure homogenization Corona treatment General Chemistry 0104 chemical sciences chemistry engineering Surface modification acide lactique

description

Poly(lactic acid) or PLA is currently considered as one of the most promising substitutes of conventional plastics, with low environmental impact, especially for food packaging applications. Nevertheless, some drawbacks, such as high permeability to oxygen, are still limiting its industrial applications. The objective of this study was to highly increase the oxygen barrier performance of PLA without compromising its sustainable nature and following the principles of circular economy perspective. Coproducts coming from mill industries, such as wheat gluten proteins (WG), were used to produce PLA-WG-PLA multilayer complexes with improved barrier performance. Different technologies of industrial interest were considered: high-pressure homogenization of WG film forming dispersions, corona treatment of industrial PLA films, wet casting and spin coating for tailoring the WG coating thickness, and hot-pressing for shaping the multilayers. The impact of all these strategies on the properties (surface and bulk) and performances (barrier and adhesion) were investigated on the single constituent layers as well as on the final laminate. The most efficient complex increased more than 20 times (or 2000%) the barrier properties to oxygen and ∼20% the barrier properties to water vapor, considering application conditions (50% relative humidity and 25 °C). The low thickness (∼60 μm) of this complex also matched the requirement for flexible packaging applications. High-pressure homogenization, WG coating thickness, and hot-pressing positively and highly impacted the final properties of the multilayer, while the contribution of corona treatment was limited. This study unambiguously evidenced the potential of PLA-WG-PLA complexes as a valid sustainable substitute for high performing conventional plastics, and it could open an unexplored PLA market opportunity. In addition, it could motivate further investigations on PLA-based laminates for industrial interest, using other biopolymers from agro-industrial waste or byproducts.

year	journal	country	edition	language
2019-01-22	ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering

https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.8b04064