New plastics technology set to keep food and medication for longer
A consortium set up by A*STAR’s Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) and its industry partners will be seeking to develop new plastic technologies that can keep food fresher, protect medicines from oxidation and furniture looking new.
Dr Li Xu, the IMRE senior scientist who is leading the new Industrial Coating and Packaging (ICAP) consortium's project, said: "Current plastic packaging has its limitations as it allows diffusion of oxygen, moisture and UV light compared to materials like aluminium or tin.
"The ICAP team will be using IMRE’s advanced capabilities to develop new technologies to overcome these limitations."
The plastics being developed will also require less energy to produce and allow consumers to see the actual perishable products compared to today’s opaque aluminium-plastic packaging materials. This same technology may also be used to make paints and varnishes that protect surfaces with air-tight coatings and block oxidising UV and near infrared rays
This new generation of food packaging will go beyond its usual function, added Professor Andy Hor, IMRE’s Executive Director. "For example, packaging that helps food stay fresh and last longer, or with a built-in security feature that deters tampering or even one that lights up when food turns sour!"
“The secret may lie in IMRE’s novel layer-by-layer technology of stacking of modified clay sheets," said Professor Hor.
ICAP was conceived in response to the needs of packaging and coating manufacturers who were seeing an increasing demand for high-performance, customised packaging and coatings for critical components and equipment, consumer care, automotive, aerospace, oil and gas industries.
Through such a partnership, new and innovative technologies like IMRE’s packaging and coating can be placed directly into the hands of relevant companies thus shortening the time-to-market of new products.
The consortium currently comprises core member companies including Nestle R&D Center (Pte) Ltd, Daibochi Plastic And Packaging Industry Berhad, Texplore Co., Ltd. (subsidiary company of SCG Chemicals Co., Ltd), Nipo International Pte Ltd and Piaget Chemicals & Manufacturing Pte Ltd.
The ICAP consortium will serve as a platform that enables companies to reduce R&D risks and investments in new coating and packaging technologies by pooling R&D resources in joint projects.
The project for the new plastics will span one and a half years.
