Fibrous packaging paper made of oil palm fiber with beeswax-chitosan solution to improve water resistance

Abstract

Many fibrous residual wastes have been considered as potential substitutes of wood pulp, especially oil palm fiber. However, a disadvantage of fibrous residual wastes for packaging production is the poor water resistance properties. To improve these aspects, a beeswax-chitosan solution was applied as coating on packaging paper, and the drying was done by hot pressing. The paper samples were made with different concentrations of NaOH (15%, 17.5% and 20% w/v) in alkali pulping process and with different doses of pulp by moist weight (200–300 g) to a paper frame (400 × 400 mm2) before testing their physical properties (average thickness; grammage; density; and water absorbency time) and mechanical properties (tensile strength; and tensile index). The biodegradation time was also tested. The optimal NaOH concentration found was 20.0%w/v. The average thickness of paper produced with 200, 250, and 300 g pulp per frame ranged from 0.92 mm to 2.20 mm, while the basis weight or grammage increased from 499 g/cm2 to 1461 g/cm2. The average grammage and smoothness of paper were increased by coating in comparison to non-coated paper, but presented bulk reduction from that of non-coated paper partly due to drying by hot pressing. The maximum 21.74 kN/m tensile strength and 96 min water absorbency time were observed for paper coated with beeswax–chitosan solution, while 0.75 kN/m tensile strength and 15 min water absorbency time were found for uncoated paper. About 70% weight losses were seen for all papers over decomposition for up to 60 days when buried in soil. The results obtained from this study opens the door for further work on oil palm fiber in paper making. The oil palm fiber has potential as a resource for fibrous paper production when coated with beeswax-chitosan solution for a long water absorbency time, and its use could contribute against deforestation.