The demand for fiber-based packaging is to rise from 145 to 210 billion Euros in 2012 globally. Simultaneously, there is a clear trend to shift from fossil oil-based packaging coating materials to biobased ones. This opens for opportunities for fully wood-based packaging. Hemicelluloses constitute a scarcely utilized but extensive forest-based biomass resource. Xylan, a hemicellulose abundant in hardwoods, is obtained from e.g. initial stages of kraft pulping, or through extraction from bleached pulp or wood.  By chemical derivatization of xylan, one can introduce branching, or internal plasticization, and avoid processability and migratory issues brought on by external plasticization. Enhanced thermoplasticity and hydrophobicity are two main criteria required for packaging applications and versatile barrier properties which were under scrutiny through esterification or etherification. Cross-linked water-soluble xylan and galactoglucomannan derivatives provided the best overall aqueous barrier coating on precoated paperboard, being impermeable to grease and better oxygen barriers than a polyester reference.

Non-food hemicellulose-based packaging materials

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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