As the trend of replacing plastic with paper continues to advance in the industry, the advantages of corrugated cardboard boxes are becoming increasingly evident. These boxes have low raw material costs, are widely available, recyclable, and biodegradable, making them a green and environmentally friendly packaging material that meets current demands. However, since the main components of cardboard are cellulose and hemicellulose, their surfaces contain hydrophilic groups—hydroxyl groups—making the boxes prone to moisture absorption during production, transportation, and storage, thereby losing their original functionality. Therefore, superhydrophobic modification of corrugated cardboard boxes is of great significance.
Current research has extensively explored the superhydrophobic modification of cardboard, but most methods have not achieved large-scale production due to their complexity, reliance on special equipment, and persistent bioaccumulation that poses potential hazards to the environment and human health. Superhydrophobic fabrics, for instance, retain their excellent stability and superhydrophobic properties even after being soaked in water and oil for several days. Liu and colleagues successfully combined polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) with a candle soot coating to create paper with superhydrophobic/superhydrophilic properties, offering good anti-fouling performance and mechanical durability. Additionally, the compatibility of superhydrophobic surfaces significantly improves, providing potential for multifunctional applications.
From the current research landscape, more scholars are focusing on developing superhydrophobic materials using simple and eco-friendly methods and have achieved certain results. Based on this research background, Jill Group proposes addressing the issues of non-environmental friendliness, high costs, complex processes, and poor mechanical properties associated with current superhydrophobic coatings. Jill Group suggests using an organic-inorganic hybrid method, combining stearic acid (SA) with long alkyl chains to provide low surface energy, nano silica (SiO2 NPs) to create high surface roughness, and PDMS to enhance adhesion between the coating and the corrugated cardboard. This approach aims to offer an eco-friendly, moisture-resistant corrugated cardboard box with excellent performance that can be obtained through a printing and coating process.
