Polylactic Acid Coating Affects the Ring Crush Strength of Linerboards

Paperboards used for linerboard of corrugated fiberboard box were coated with different concentrations of polylactic acid (PLA) solution and the effects of harsh environmental conditions such as high humidity and temperature (96% RH at $30^{\circ}C$ for up to 5 days), and freeze-thaw ($-20^{\circ}C$ for a day and then thaw at room temperature for 30 min) conditions on the ring crush (RC) strength of the boards were investigated. One to five percent PLA solutions were coated onto SC manila linerboard ($20{\times}27cm$) using a No. 20 wire bar coater and the ring crush strength was measured using a computer-controlled Advanced Universal Testing System in accordance with TAPPI Test Method T 822 om-93. The RC strength increased significantly when the concentration of coating solution increased and appreciable changes were found when the concentration increased from 0 to 2% (P<0.05). Similar pattern of results was found after 5-day storage at $30^{\circ}C$ and 96% RH. Although such highly humid condition increased moisture content in the samples up to 3.95 from 0.97 times, the RC strength decreased in the range from 29.9 to 48.5%. The freeze-thaw treatment increased the moisture content only up to 1.27% and the reduction in the RC strength ranged from 21.1 to 28.1 %. The results were promising: the samples coated with 5% PLA solution showed 29.9% reduction in the RC strength while that of control was 48.5% during highly humid condition stated above.