Wood-based barriers for wood-based materials
Paper/wood-based materials suffer from poor barrier and moisture-sensitive properties (left figure). By learning how nature (plants/fruits) create moisture and gas barriers, we have developed crosslinked barrier biopolyesters (representing the cutin layer in plants) with also a process that yields a rough wax-like outer layer, similar to what is observed in plants, giving high surface hydrophobicity […]
Cuticle-inspired barriers for lignocellulose materials
We have created moisture-barrier films using the second most abundant C16 hydroxy fatty acid (Fig. 1)1. These are semicrystalline materials with different degrees of toughness. The material shows a high “apparent” hydrophobicity, as revealed by contact angle measurements (110-130°, much higher than for PLA). The reason is due to the rough surface that we create […]
High barriers for wood-based materials
Nature-inspired high barrier materials from wood components for wood-based materials. Objectives Scientific: Investigate how the different components in a fruit/plant cuticle contribute to very high barrier properties (wax/lipid, crosslinked polyester and polysaccharides). Why are they assembled together the whey they are? Are there synergy effects? Can we go even beyond Natures high barriers by introducing […]
