Collaborative Research: Interfacial Phenomena of Functional Solutes Impregnated into Cellulose Packaging Substrates

合作研究：功能性溶质浸渍纤维素包装基材的界面现象

• 批准号: 2322501
• 负责人: Brenda Prager
• 金额: $ 25.26万
• 依托单位: University of Mississippi
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-08-01 至 2026-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2322501&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Interfacial; Phenomena; Functional

Packaging is essential to everyday life. It protects our food and medicine and facilitates the safe transport of goods across the country and around the world. Plastics-based packaging has become popular because it offers better barrier properties than traditional paper-based packaging, which helps preserve the quality and safety of packaged products. Despite the benefits of plastic packaging, the poor end-of-life characteristics and recycling challenges often lead to environmental pollution. This research project seeks to develop a sustainable and functional paper-based alternative to plastic packaging that can be manufactured using renewable feedstocks and green chemistry technologies. Bio-based compounds extracted from agricultural waste will be impregnated into paper to improve the material’s functionality and barrier properties. The molecular-level interactions between paper and bio-based compounds will be examined to develop a competitive and sustainable alternative to plastic packaging. To increase diversity in STEM fields and promote economic prosperity, this project will engage high school, undergraduate, and graduate students from backgrounds and groups traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields. Additionally, outreach events will enhance public awareness of sustainable packaging practices.This project is jointly funded by the Interfacial Engineering program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). The research aims to develop next-generation sustainable packaging materials, with favorable performance and end-of-life characteristics, by engineering cellulosic substrates with improved barrier properties. This will be accomplished using the supercritical impregnation (SCI) methodology, where supercritical carbon dioxide (ssCO2) is used to impregnate bioderived solutes into cellulose matrices. The fundamental interfacial phenomena governing solute adsorption onto the cellulosic fibers will be determined. Two model solute systems – aliphatic and aromatic - and cosolvents have been chosen to represent the chemical species derived from agricultural residues. The aliphatic solute system is expected to yield desirable hydrophobic properties for the packaging material, and the aromatic solute system is expected to impart UV-absorbent properties. The initial adsorption kinetics of the solutes onto the cellulosic fibers will be measured using state-of-the-art quartz crystal microbalance (QCM-D) instrumentation and modeled to quantify the impact of the process conditions influencing rate constants. In operando near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopic studies will elucidate fundamental bonding and partitioning processes that facilitate SCI of paper substrates, including the hydrogen-bonding of interfacing cellulosic fibers, the influence of scCO2-cosolvent interactions on hydrogen-bonding, and the impact of scCO2-cosolvent-cellulose interactions on solute partitioning into cellulose. Lastly, relationships between solute diffusion mechanisms and the resultant distribution of solutes throughout cellulosic matrices will be evaluated via digital imaging analyses, with functional improvements assessed via contact angle and light transmittance measurements for the two systems, respectively. This research contributes to society in multiple ways, including developing sustainable packaging materials, advancing the potential of bioderived solutes as packaging additives, providing research opportunities for underrepresented students, and educating the community on sustainable packaging benefits through outreach events.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

包装对于日常生活至关重要。它保护我们的食物和医学，并促进了全国和世界各地的货物安全运输。基于塑料的包装之所以流行，是因为它提供的障碍物比传统的纸质包装更好，这有助于保留包装产品的质量和安全性。尽管塑料包装有好处，但较差的寿命特征和回收挑战通常会导致环境污染。该研究项目旨在开发一种可持续和功能的塑料包装替代品，可以使用可再生原料和绿色化学技术制造。从农业废物中提取的基于生物的化合物将被浸入纸张中，以改善材料的功能和障碍特性。将检查纸张和基于生物的化合物之间的分子水平相互作用，以开发塑料包装的竞争性和可持续性替代品。为了提高STEM领域的多样性并促进经济繁荣，该项目将吸引来自STEM领域的背景和团体的高中，本科和研究生。此外，外展活动还将提高公众对可持续包装实践的认识。该项目由界面工程计划和既定计划的计划共同资助，以刺激竞争性研究（EPSCOR）。该研究旨在通过具有改善的障碍物特性的工程纤维素基质来开发具有良好性能和寿命特征的下一代可持续包装材料。这将使用超临界浸渍（SCI）方法来实现，其中超临界二氧化碳（SSCO2）用于将生物耐用的溶剂浸入纤维素材料中。将确定控制甲壳吸附到纤维素纤维上的基本界面现象。已经选择了两个模型可溶性系统 - 脂肪族和芳香的系统，并选择了溶剂化的化学物种来代表农业残留物的化学物种。预计脂肪型可溶性系统将为包装材料产生理想的疏水性能，并且预计芳香族可溶性纤维将赋予紫外线吸收性。将使用最先进的石英晶体微量平衡（QCM-D）仪器测量固体对纤维素纤维的初始吸附动力学，并建模以量化影响速率常数的过程条件的影响。 In operando near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopic studies will elucidate fundamental bonding and partitioning processes that facilitate SCI of paper substrates, including the hydrogen-bonding of interfacing cellulosic fibers, the influence of scCO2-cosolvent interactions on hydrogen-bonding, and the impact of scCO2-cosolvent-cellulose interactions on solid partitioning into cellulose.最后，将通过数字成像分析评估固体扩散机制与固体在整个纤维素材料中的关系分布之间的关系，分别通过接触角和两个系统的光传输测量评估功能改进。 This research contributes to society in multiple ways, including developing sustainable packaging materials, advancing The potential of bioderived solutes as packaging additives, providing research opportunities for underrepresented students, and educating the community on sustainable packaging benefits through outreach events.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed precious of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.