Reinforcing Paper Strength with High Viscosity Aminated Cellulose Nanocrystal by Forming Nanocrystal Networks

Higher tensile and bursting strength are paramount concerns in paper-based packaging materials. Herein, the aminated cellulose nanocrystal (A-CNC) was synthesized by the amination reactions firstly, and the base paper was reinforced via coating hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) and A-CNC. The surface morphology and tensile strength of the coated composite paper were characterized and the rheological performance of A-CNC was also investigated. The results clearly demonstrated that coating of HPMC/A-CNC significantly increased the dry tensile strength of composite paper by 1.035 times (32.88 MPa) as compared with base paper (16.16 MPa). In addition, the paper strength as coated with A-CNC was also higher than that of unmodified CNC, which was attributed to the improvement of viscosity of A-CNC. The composite papers coated HPMC/A-CNC showed a great potential in packaging applications with higher mechanical strength.