Preparation of superhydrophobic coatings on kraft paper for the protection of important documents

Abstract

Kraft paper (KP) has the advantages of being biodegradable, recyclable, and environmentally friendly. It has a wide range of applications in paper packaging, food packaging, and other fields. However, the non-waterproof characteristic of KP limits its application in harsh environments or special paper packaging, etc. To solve the problem of poor water resistance of KP, a simple and efficient method is proposed to prepare superhydrophobic coatings on kraft paper (SKP) by spraying method using hydrophobic Nano-calcium carbonate (Nano-CaCO3) particles and rosin (RA) as raw materials. Here, the micro-nano structures are mainly constructed by hydrophobic Nano-CaCO3 particles, and RA is utilized as a binder to improve the adhesion between the nanoparticles and the paper. The results indicated that the water contact angle (WCA) of SKP reached 154.5° and the water sliding angle (WSA) was 3.2°. And after 34 h of immersion in water, the WCA of SKP surface can remain above 150°. It can also withstand 30 times of sandpaper abrasion and 30 times of tape peeling. Overall, SKP shows excellent stability, water resistance, stain resistance and self-cleaning. It is expected to protect important documents in harsh environments.