NEWTOWN, CT, January 25, 2010: At SPE's FlexPackCon in Houston, Feb. 22-24, 2010, Hank Schirmer of BBS Corp. will discuss research on barrier films produced with up to 75 layers of various resins, including EVOH and COC.
Utilizing a modular die system, the researchers used both downward and upward extrusion to produce variants of traditional barrier films. They substituted up to 75 nano-layers such as PP/EVOH and COC/EVOH for the barrier core.
While the COC/EVOH films suffered from lack of adhesion between the components, they exhibited excellent optical qualities. The PP/EVOH structures were hazier, presumably because of the inherently higher haze of the PP and rheological issues. The researchers report no enhancement of oxygen barrier, either wet or dry, resulting from the nano-layer structure. They hypothesize the nano-layer technique may have modified the crystallinity and inherent barrier of the component resins, or brittleness may have degraded layer continuity and barrier. The researchers suggest how modifying the resins might improve adhesion.
Among other related papers at FlexPackCon will be ''High Barrier, Non-Foil Packaging Materials'' by Tom Dunn, Printpack, and ''Value Films from Sub-Micron Layers'' by Gary Oliver, EDI. The three-day FlexPackCon program will also include sessions on sustainability and source reduction, recent advances in materials and converting technologies, and the impact of recent regulatory changes on flexible packaging manufacturers.
More information on SPE's FlexPackCon 2010 and International Polyolefins 2010 Conference is available at http://www.spe-stx.org/PolyolefinsConference.htm, at www.4spe.org, or by calling
Lesley Kyle at +1 203-740-5452.
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