KAIST-Yonsei University develops marine biodegradable high-strength paper coating
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A domestic research team has developed a biodegradable packaging material with high performance without leaving behind microplastics in the ocean, the harshest biodegradation conditions known thus far. Packaging materials account for 30-50% of total plastic consumption, so biodegradable packaging materials as an alternative are attracting attention. Microplastics are small pieces of plastic less than 5 mm in size, which are created during the decomposition process of plastic and float in the ocean and on the sea surface for decades or more, causing marine environmental pollution.
A sustainable marine biodegradable high-performance paper coating was successfully developed by a joint research team of Professor Jae-wook Myung of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Professor Han-seul Yang of the Department of Life Sciences, and Professor Jong-cheol Seo of the Department of Packaging and Logistics at Yonsei University.
Paper packaging, commonly used in everyday life, is recognized as an eco-friendly packaging material, but has very limited moisture resistance, oxygen barrier properties, and strength. Polyethylene (PE) and ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) are used as coating agents to improve the low barrier properties of paper packaging materials, but these substances do not decompose and worsen plastic pollution when discarded in the natural environment.
In response to this problem, packaging materials using a number of bio-based materials and biodegradable plastics have been developed, but they have faced the dilemma that as packaging performance improves, biodegradability rapidly decreases.
Biodegradable plastic is a substitute for non-degradable plastic and refers to a polymer compound that is decomposed by microorganisms in natural environments such as soil and the ocean, or under artificial conditions such as industrial composting and anaerobic digestion.
The Yonsei University research team produced a high-material film using boric acid on polyvinyl alcohol, a biodegradable plastic, and coated it on paper to create a packaging material that is biodegradable, biocompatible, high barrier properties, and high strength. The developed coated paper showed excellent barrier properties to oxygen and water vapor and had physical strength. In particular, it maintains high tensile strength even in a humid environment, dramatically overcoming the shortcomings of paper.
The KAIST research team conducted in-depth verification of biodegradability and biocompatibility to evaluate the sustainability of the developed coated paper. The biodegradability of coated paper was measured by imitating the marine environment, which is the most difficult environment for biodegradation to occur in the laboratory. As a result of analyzing the degree to which the carbon component of the material was mineralized into carbon dioxide over a period of 111 days, it was found that 59-82% biodegraded depending on the coating component. By looking through the electron microscope, it was confirmed that marine microorganisms decomposed the coating material and the subsequent low neurotoxicity of the coating material. The high biocompatibility of the coated paper was verified through rat biological reaction experiments.
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Through this research, Professor Myung Jae-wook of KAIST said, “To overcome the limitations of existing paper packaging, we proposed a coating strategy that can improve packaging performance while maintaining sustainability, and boric acid cross-linked polyvinyl alcohol coated paper can be used under artificial composting conditions or sewage treatment facilities. Because it is biodegradable and low-toxic material, it does not worsen environmental pollution even if unintentionally discarded. It can potentially be a sustainable substitute for plastic packaging materials.”
He also said, “The development of a marine biodegradable high-performance paper coating is the result of combining innovative technologies of three leading research teams in each field. We will continue to strive to develop materials that are both environmentally friendly and high performance.”
Professor Seo Jong-cheol of Yonsei University, who led the research on the development of high-performance paper coating, said, “Through this research, we have developed an eco-friendly paper packaging technology that can replace non-degradable plastic packaging, and we expect to have industrial application as it is based on systematic research results for the entire application process, including material design, application, and disposal.”
This research was conducted with the support of the National Research Foundation of Korea and the Korea Institute of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, and was published in Green Chemistry and Food Chemistry, academic journals in the fields of sustainable science and food science, on April 17 and February 19, respectively, and were published online.
The paper title is 'Boric acid-crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol): biodegradable, biocompatible, robust, and high-barrier paper coating' (Choi Shin-hyung (KAIST, first author), Seul-gi Yoo (KAIST), Ki-tae Park (Yonsei University), and Young-joo Kim (KAIST) ), Cho Yong-jun (KAIST), Park Je-hee (KAIST), Seo Jong-cheol (Yonsei University), Yang Han-seul (KAIST), Myung Jae-wook (KAIST, corresponding author), a total of 9 people) and ‘Effect of epichlorohydrin treatment on the coating process and performance of high-barrier paper packaging' (Ki-Tae Park (Yonsei University, first author), Choi Choi (KAIST), Kambiz Sadeghi (Yonsei University), Pradeep Kumar Panda (Yonsei University), Jae-Wook Myung (KAIST), Do-wan Kim (Gangneung-Wonju National University), Jong-cheol Seo (Yonsei University, corresponding author) a total of 7 people.)
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