Study on Quality Improvement in Pulp Fiber Molding Through Coating Treatment

As environmental issues have intensified, pulp fiber molding products, an eco-friendly paper-based alternative to plastic products, are gaining attention.In order to expand the use of these molding products, such as for cushioning packaging materials, quality improvements are required, particularly in enhancing the surface structure.Therefore, this study investigated the quality improvement through the coating treatment of pulp fiber molding products.A spray coating process was applied for surface coating of pulp molds with a three-dimensional structure, and the physical properties of the coating solution and process conditions suitable for the spray coating process were evaluated.Furthermore, natural polymer-based starch coatings, latex, and biodegradable acrylic coatings were applied as coating agents, and their effects were compared and evaluated.When evaluating water resistance and oil resistance, the biodegradable acrylic coating showed the most excellent results, and its effect on improving moisture barrier properties was also assessed.It was confirmed that surface coating of pulp fiber molding could improve the quality of the products by enhancing water resistance, oil resistance, and moisture barrier properties.