Compatibilized PET Packaging Structure for Food Applications
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current food packaging materials, such as high impact polystyrene (HIPS) and polyvinylidene chloride (PVdC), pose migration issues and environmental concerns, while polyethylene terephthalate (PET) lacks sufficient oxygen barrier properties and is difficult to trim, leading to contamination risks and deformation at high temperatures.
Innovation Solution
A compatibilized polymer blend with a specific heterophasic morphology, incorporating PET, impact modified PET, amorphous PET, hexanedioic acid-co-1,3-benzenedimethanamine, polytrimethylene furandicarboxylate, polyvinyl alcohol, polyethyleneimine, and post-consumer resin components, which forms a formable sheet or packaging structure that exceeds industry requirements for oxygen barrier, moisture barrier, hot fill capability, and trimability, and is sustainably produced.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If HIPS and PVdC are used in food packaging, then cost and ease of manufacture are improved, but chemical migration and environmental harm occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite materials by creating a multi-layer structure combining PET with various barrier coatings and additive packages. This composite approach allows the base PET material to provide structural integrity while the added layers and modifiers supply the necessary oxygen barrier properties and chemical stability, eliminating the need for migratory HIPS and PVdC materials.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies parameter changes by modifying PET through the addition of specific additives (antioxidants, UV stabilizers, nucleating agents) and controlling crystallization parameters to achieve the desired balance of barrier properties, processability, and chemical stability without using harmful materials.
2Ease of manufacture
If standard PET is used for food packaging, then cost and processability are improved, but oxygen barrier and heat resistance are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a composite material system by combining PET with oxygen barrier coatings and functional additives. This composite structure maintains the excellent processability of PET while adding the necessary oxygen barrier properties through the integrated coating and additive packages.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent modifies standard PET by changing its chemical and physical parameters through the addition of specific additives and control of crystallization conditions, thereby enhancing oxygen barrier properties and heat resistance while maintaining cost-effectiveness and processability.
3Stability of the object's composition
If PET is used for food containers, then chemical stability is improved, but trimability and edge quality deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent addresses trimability issues by changing the physical parameters of PET through controlled crystallization and the addition of specific additives that modify the material's response to trimming operations, reducing plastic fragments while maintaining chemical stability.
4Ease of operation
If conventional PET containers are heated to high temperatures, then food dispensing capability is improved, but container deformation occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the thermal parameters of PET by controlling crystallization degree and adding heat-stabilizing additives, enabling the container to withstand high temperatures during hot fill operations without deforming, thus improving hot fill capability while maintaining shape integrity.
Data Source
AI summary
In an embodiment, the invention comprises a packaging structure or formable sheet comprising a first layer which comprises post-consumer resin and, in some embodiments, a polyolefin; a second layer adjacent the first layer which comprises: post-consumer resin polyethylene terephthalate; a polyolefin; ethylene methyl acrylate; and ethylene/methyl acrylate/glycidyl methacrylate terpolymer; and in some embodiments, polypropylene maleic anhydride copolymer; and a third layer adjacent the second layer which comprises post-consumer resin and, in some embodiments, a polyolefin.