corrugated paper

Application practice of nanocellulose to improve the strength and impact resistance of corrugated paper

1. Case background

As the core material of the packaging industry, the performance of corrugated paper directly affects the safety of products during transportation, stacking and handling. Although traditional corrugated paper has advantages in terms of lightweight and cost control, it has certain limitations in compressive strength, impact resistance and durability :

Cardboard is prone to deformation or cracking during transportation

Limited load-bearing performance during stacking

Insufficient protection for products with high requirements for shock resistance and pressure resistance

Customers hope without significantly increasing the thickness of corrugated paper .to improve the strength and impact resistance of cardboard , enhance packaging safety and product protection capabilities

What is nanocellulose？

Cellulose nanofibers ( CNF) are ultrafine cellulose fibers made from wood. Wood pulp (papermaking raw material) produced through traditional papermaking technology is relaxed to the nanometer level. This is a new material derived from biomass, also known as nanocellulose.

CNF is as thin as a few nanometers, is considered transparent, has unique viscous properties, is light and strong, and has less deformation due to temperature changes, and is used in many fields.

● Nano = one millionth of the length of 1 millimeter

Process of producing nanocellulose CNF from wood pulp

1. The wood is crushed into small pieces and processed into wood chips (about 5cm wide and about 1cm thick)

2. Extract fiber from wood chips and make pulp in paper mill

3. The pulp is chemically treated to make it thinner and easier to loosen (chemical modification).

4. Apply high pressure to loosen wood fibers (pulp)

We chemically treat the pulp produced in the mill and introduce ionic functional groups into the cellulose, which forms wood fibers. The electrostatic repulsion of this functional group promotes nanoscale defibrillation of fibers while ensuring stable diffusion of elongated fibers in the range of a few nanometers (a few nanometers).

Fibers that are as thin as a few nanometers are thinner than the wavelength of visible light (400 nanometers to 700 nanometers), so they pass the light and become transparent.

2. The mechanism of action after adding nanocellulose

Nanocellulose is a natural material with When nanocellulose is evenly dispersed into the corrugated pulp system, nanoscale fiber structure, high crystallinity and high specific surface area . a continuous nanoscale network structure can be formed between paper fibers , thereby improving the mechanical properties of the paper.

Specific mechanisms include:

fiber reinforced

Nanocellulose can fill the micropores in pulp and improve the bonding strength between fibers.

Build a micro-reinforced skeleton to make the overall paper denser and more uniform

Improved impact and pressure resistance

Nanofiber network disperses impact energy when stressed

Avoid rupture caused by stress concentration, transforming cardboard from fragile and easy to fold to strong and durable

Improve moisture resistance and dimensional stability

Nanocellulose absorbs moisture evenly and can reduce paper deformation caused by humidity changes.

Improve the stability and durability of cardboard in humid environments

Through these effects, the performance of corrugated paper is improved from traditional one-way mechanical properties to all-round high-strength, impact-resistant, and durable cardboard.

3. Customer core needs

Improve the compressive strength and impact resistance of corrugated paper

Improve performance without increasing board thickness and weight

Maintain good processability and printing adaptability of cardboard

Balancing cost control and material sustainability

4. Application plan implementation

Slurry modification : uniformly add nanocellulose to corrugated paper production slurry

Dispersion process : ensure nanocellulose is fully dispersed through high-speed stirring and homogenization

Cardboard forming : maintain the traditional corrugated paper production process to ensure mechanical adaptability and production efficiency

Performance verification : Verify the modification effect through compression, impact resistance and wet strength tests

5. Practical application effects

Nanocellulose reinforced corrugated paper shows significant advantages in production and use:

Significantly improved compressive strength

The load-bearing capacity of multi-layer corrugated cardboard is enhanced, and the stability of stacking and transportation is improved.

Instantly enhanced impact resistance

Better impact dispersion during transportation and handling

Cardboard becomes stronger from being easily broken

Improved moisture resistance and dimensional stability

Significant reduction in cardboard deformation and warping in humid or high-humidity environments

Product packaging protection is more reliable

Processing and printing adaptability remains good

Nanocellulose modification does not affect the printing effect or processing efficiency of paperboard

6. Effect comparison

index	Traditional corrugated paper	Nanocellulose reinforced corrugated paper
Compressive strength	generally	Significant improvement
Impact resistance	Lower	Strong and stable
Moisture resistance	Easy to deform	Significant improvement
Stacking transport stability	ordinary	Highly stable
Comprehensive packaging protection	generally	High performance guaranteed

Corrugated paper with nanocellulose added

7. Case summary

By introducing nanocellulose into the corrugated paper production system and utilizing its nanoscale fiber network to enhance the pulp structure, the transformation of cardboard from fragile and easy to fold to strong and durable is achieved . Modified corrugated paper not only improves the compression resistance, impact resistance and moisture resistance, but also maintains production feasibility and printing processing performance, providing the packaging industry with a high-performance cardboard solution that can be replicated and promoted.。

This case is suitable for transportation packaging, heavy-duty logistics packaging, and product packaging that require high pressure and earthquake resistance, and has good market application prospects.

( Schematic diagram of the three-dimensional network structure of nanocellulose )

Inquiry about nanocellulose

Nanjing Tianlu Nanotechnology Co., Ltd. ，Marketing Department , Nanocellulose Promotion Office

Address: Room 301, Building 2, Phase 3, No. 1, Yuepu Yunchuang Center, No. 6 Shuige Road, Jiangning District

Telephone:18061643560