Improved Oil Resistance of Cellulose Packaging Paper by Coating with Natural Polymer Derived Materials

Paper is widely used as food packaging due to its good mechanical strength and degradability. However, it has a relatively strong affinity for water and oil, which limits its application scope. In this work, we prepare two types of coated paper to investigate, the influence the air permeability and polarity on the oil resistance of the coated paper. The results showed that reducing the air permeability improved the grease resistance of the coated paper. High surface energy coatings also showed better oil resistance because of their higher content of polar components that resulted in a higher resistance to grease. The mechanical properties of the paper also improved after applying the coating. These natural derived materials offer an alternative to the fluoride-containing materials currently used in the market to improve the wettability of paper.

Textures of Nematic Liquid Crystal Cylindric-Section Droplets Confined by Chemically Patterned Surfaces

The director fields adopted by nematic liquid crystals (LCs) that are confined by the surface to form long, thin droplets are investigated using polarising optical microscopy. Samples are produced by de-wetting of the LC on a surface patterned with alternating high-surface energy and low-surface energy stripes of 10–30 μm width. The droplets obtained are expected to adopt a profile which is that of a longitudinal section of a cylinder and, as this suggests, the director fields observed are variants in the case where the LC is constrained in a cylindrical capillary or fibre. Hence, when there is normal anchoring at the air interface, the textures observed are related to the well-known escaped radial texture (for the nematic LC mixture E7) or plane polar texture (for the LC mixture MLC6609). More surprising is the observation that the nematic LC mixture MLC7023, which is anchored in a planar or tilted manner at the air interface, also gives what appears to be an escaped radial director field. As an exploration of the possibility of using these systems in creating sensors, the effects of adding a chiral dopant and of adding water to the substrates are also investigated.

New-phase retention in colloidal core/shell nanocrystals via pressure-modulated phase engineering

Core/shell MnSe/MnS nanocrystals with the B31 phase are thermodynamically stable under high pressure and can survive under ambient conditions owing to the synergistic effect of subtle enthalpy differences and high surface energy in nanomaterials.

Research Progress and Development Demand of Nanocellulose Reinforced Polymer Composites

Nanocellulose is a type of nanomaterial with high strength, high specific surface area and high surface energy. Additionally, it is nontoxic, harmless, biocompatible and environmentally friendly and can be extracted from biomass resources. The surface groups of cellulose show high surface energy and binding activity on the nanoscale and can be modified by using various methods. Because nanocellulose has a high elastic modulus, rigidity and a low thermal expansion coefficient, it is an excellent material for polymer reinforcement. This paper summarizes the reinforcement mechanisms of nanocellulose polymer composites with a focus on the role of theoretical models in elucidating these mechanisms. Furthermore, the influence of various factors on the properties of nanocellulose reinforced polymer composites are discussed in combination with analyses and comparisons of specific research results in related fields. Finally, research focus and development directions for the design of high-performance nanocellulose reinforced polymer composites are proposed.