• biodgradable
• bioplastics
• biopolymers
• cellulose
• chitin
• coating
• nanocellulose
• nanochitin
• polymers
• sustainable

The biopolymer market has received a major attention in the last years, due to increasing attention to the environment and pollution-related issues. Research is pushing towards the development of cheap and competitive materials to gradually replace synthetic plastics.
Tons of plastics, utilized in the food packaging sector, are being wasted every year. The use of biodegradable polymer can help to solve these sustainability-related issues, as conducted in this thesis work.
A strategy to enhance the barrier properties of bioplastics, while maintaining an ecological approach, is based on the development of biobased and fully degradable coatings.
Chitin and Cellulose are two of the most abundant biopolymers on earth, and were used to produce sustainable and fully degradable material.
Nanochitin has shown to have antibacterial properties and Nanocellulose to increase the barrier properties (i.e. oxygen permeability) of the coated materials.
The production of hot-melt and water-born coatings on plastic substrates, blending nanochitin with lactic acid oligomers and fully biodegradable co-polyesters has been achieved.
Also, a protocol to modify nanocellulose utilizing silanols and food contact approved solvents (water, acetone) has been tested and optimized with promising results.