Comprehensive enhancement of mechanical, water-repellent and antimicrobial properties of regenerated seaweed and plant-based paper with chitosan coating

Abstract

Regenerated paper made from a discarded natural source, such as seaweed or non-wood plants, is viewed as a promising eco-friendly alternative to conventional paper. However, due to the limited mechanical strength and higher water absorption as compared to traditional wood pulp, it often leads to premature structural disintegration. To overcome these issues, this research introduces an efficient and comprehensive strategy of coating seaweed and plant papers with varying concentrations and molecular weights of chitosan. Since plants and seaweeds contain high negatively-charged polysaccharide contents, the positively-charged chitosan shows high binding affinity towards the papers. The resulting chitosan-coated papers demonstrate significant enhancements in water repellency mechanical properties of the coated papers. In addition, the natural anti-microbial effect of chitosan could also be imparted to the coated papers.