Desenvolvimento de copo de papel de baixa densidade, degradável e fabricado com matérias primas renováveis

Abstract

The search for the reduction of the amount of waste generated and the concern with the degradation time of this waste has generated great efforts by the scientific community. To contribute to this demand, two paperboards of different cellulosic fiber compositions were produced and evaluated, aiming at reducing the total mass of the packaging and two different coating polymers were evaluated: low density polyethylene and the ecovio® biopolymer. The paperboard whose composition of the middle layer contained CTMP showed a reduction of 15% in the specific mass of the middle layer of the paperboard, thus evidencing the capacity of this material to reduce the mass of the final packaging. In assessing the capacity of the Ecovio® biopolymer (partially from renewable sources) to replace Polyethylene (non-renewable source), 18g / m² films were laminated on one of the paper surfaces and the mechanical properties (tensile strenght, tensile stretch, TEA and bending resistance), water absorption and water vapor transmission rate (Cobb test and WVTR), biodegradation rate, and morphological analysis was also performed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In terms of mechanical properties and water absorption, no significant differences were observed between paperboard coated with different polymers, but with regard to the water vapor transmission rate, paperboard coated with ecovio® reached up to 131gH2O /(m².dia), which is around 8 times greater than the value achieved by Polyethylene 18gH2O / (m².dia). A positive point of paperboard coated with ecovio® is its high biodegradation capacity, reaching 56% biodegradation in a period of 90 days.