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Spinning techniques: wet spinning and electrospinning are conventional methods to obtain biobased nanocomposite fibers (Yan et al. 2010; García-Moreno et al.
2018). Wet spinning is suitable to produce large-scale biobased microfibers, while
electrospinning produces extremely fine and specifically aligned nanofibers which
can be used as a matrix or nanoreinforcement. Similar to the solution intercalation
technique, the polymer nanocomposites are produced after dispersion of layered
silicate in the aqueous phase (Koo 2006).
6.4.4 High Shear Mixing and Roll Milling
The solid or liquid nano-fillers are mixed with the polymer solution using a highshear equipment to prevent the aggregation of nano-fillers and disperse the polymer
chains through the nano-filler layers. If the surface treated NPs are compatible with
the selected polymer, an intercalated or exfoliated nanocomposite structure will be
formed. Roll milling is another shear mixing technique which requires less shear
stress compared to the high shear mixing technique. In this method, all components
are mixed at room temperature based on shear to disruption of van der Waals interactions between layers (Sorrentino et al. 2005; Guo and Chen 2014). The energy
transfer between the mills and the mixture of nanocomposites not only promotes the
mixing and dispersion of the filler, but also maintains the intrinsic structure of the
newly obtained layers.
6.4.5 Other Methods
Freeze-drying is a dehydration process, which is used by freezing biobased nanocomposites in a solution or hydrogel (Rey and May 2010). This technique produces
highly porous and ultralight weight bionanocomposite aerogels with respect to the
preservation of the structure of nanocomposites in the wet state. The capillary forceinduced collapse of the nanopores is prevented even when the sublimation of the
surrounding small molecular solvents. The distribution and orientation of the aerogels, as well as their pore size and shape, are controlled during the freeze-drying
process (Lorenzo et al. 2018; Patel 2018).
Micro-patterned biobased nanocomposites produce 2D or 3D organized morphologies showing comprehensive physical properties and an unusual distribution
of the components. Micro-patterns provide a way to adaptive behavior, such as selfrolling, self-folding, and actuation. The pattern strategies to form biobased nanocomposites include mainly mask-based patterning, ink-jet printing, and 3D/4D
printing (Sun et al. 2018; Xiong et al. 2018).
The sonication has gained attention to the generation of novel NPs (Gutiérrez
and Álvarez 2017a; Gutiérrez 2018f). Sonication includes the deagglomeration and
reduction of micro-sized particles such as tactoids by the application of sound
6 Functional Biobased Composite Polymers for Food Packaging Applications
Spinning techniques: wet spinning and electrospinning are conventional methods to obtain biobased nanocomposite fibers (Yan et al. 2010; García-Moreno et al.
2018). Wet spinning is suitable to produce large-scale biobased microfibers, while
electrospinning produces extremely fine and specifically aligned nanofibers which
can be used as a matrix or nanoreinforcement. Similar to the solution intercalation
technique, the polymer nanocomposites are produced after dispersion of layered
silicate in the aqueous phase (Koo 2006).
6.4.4 High Shear Mixing and Roll Milling
The solid or liquid nano-fillers are mixed with the polymer solution using a highshear equipment to prevent the aggregation of nano-fillers and disperse the polymer
chains through the nano-filler layers. If the surface treated NPs are compatible with
the selected polymer, an intercalated or exfoliated nanocomposite structure will be
formed. Roll milling is another shear mixing technique which requires less shear
stress compared to the high shear mixing technique. In this method, all components
are mixed at room temperature based on shear to disruption of van der Waals interactions between layers (Sorrentino et al. 2005; Guo and Chen 2014). The energy
transfer between the mills and the mixture of nanocomposites not only promotes the
mixing and dispersion of the filler, but also maintains the intrinsic structure of the
newly obtained layers.
6.4.5 Other Methods
Freeze-drying is a dehydration process, which is used by freezing biobased nanocomposites in a solution or hydrogel (Rey and May 2010). This technique produces
highly porous and ultralight weight bionanocomposite aerogels with respect to the
preservation of the structure of nanocomposites in the wet state. The capillary forceinduced collapse of the nanopores is prevented even when the sublimation of the
surrounding small molecular solvents. The distribution and orientation of the aerogels, as well as their pore size and shape, are controlled during the freeze-drying
process (Lorenzo et al. 2018; Patel 2018).
Micro-patterned biobased nanocomposites produce 2D or 3D organized morphologies showing comprehensive physical properties and an unusual distribution
of the components. Micro-patterns provide a way to adaptive behavior, such as selfrolling, self-folding, and actuation. The pattern strategies to form biobased nanocomposites include mainly mask-based patterning, ink-jet printing, and 3D/4D
printing (Sun et al. 2018; Xiong et al. 2018).
The sonication has gained attention to the generation of novel NPs (Gutiérrez
and Álvarez 2017a; Gutiérrez 2018f). Sonication includes the deagglomeration and
reduction of micro-sized particles such as tactoids by the application of sound
6 Functional Biobased Composite Polymers for Food Packaging Applications