THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL GENERATE ADEQUATE DATA TO ASSESS THE FEASIBILITY OF SCALE-UP AND DEMONSTRATION OF BARRIER PACKAGING COMPOSITES BASED ON CELLULOSE NANOMATERIALS. THE COMPOSITES WILL COMPRISE A THIN LAYER OF BIODEGRADABLE NANOCELLULOSE IN THE POLYMERS BEING EXAMINED FOR FOOD PACKAGING TO PROLONG THE SHELF LIFE OF OXYGEN-SENSITIVE DAIRY PRODUCTS, DEHYDRATED FOODS, OILY SNACKS, ETC. NANOCELLULOSE CAN BE ISOLATED FROM CELLULOSE STRUCTURES NATURALLY OCCURRING IN WOOD CELL WALLS. OCCURRING IN THE NANO-SIZED LENGTH SCALE ENABLES NANOCELLULOSE TO FORM DENSE AND TRANSPARENT FILMS WITH EXCELLENT BARRIER PROPERTIES TO OXYGEN PERMEATION, HOWEVER, IT IS A WEAK MOISTURE BARRIER. WE PROPOSE THAT THE MOISTURE SENSITIVITY OF NANOCELLULOSE CAN BE IMPROVED BY SEVERAL MATERIAL CONCEPTS INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING: DEVELOPING SYNERGISTIC MEANS TO ENHANCE THE BARRIER PROPERTIES OF NANOCELLULOSE FILMS BY CONTROLLING COUNTERIONS AND FUNCTIONAL GROUP CHARGES ON THE NANOCELLULOSE; AND SCREENING ADDITIVESTO REINFORCE NANOCELLULOSE FILMS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF MECHANICAL PROPERTIES. WE WILL ALSO DESIGN AND FABRICATE POLYMER/NANOCELLULOSE MULTI-LAYER FILMS WITH EXCELLENT BARRIER PROPERTIES. VARIOUS PROCESSING STRATEGIES TO MANUFACTURE MULTI-LAYER FILMS WILL BE EXPLORED. IN THIS PROJECT, WE WILL TEST THESE IDEAS AND OPTIMIZE PROCESSING AND TREATMENTS TO ACHIEVE OPTIMUM PROCESSING EFFICIENCY AND BARRIER PERFORMANCE. THE PROJECT IS EXPECTED TO DELIVER A BODY OF KNOWLEDGE OF SUSTAINABLY UTILIZING NANOCELLULOSE FOR HIGH-PERFORMANCE BIOBASED BARRIER MATERIALS FOR FOOD PACKAGING.