Packaging
Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of design, evaluation, and production of packages. Packaging can be described as a coordinated system of preparing goods for transport, warehousing, logistics, sale, and end use. Packaging contains, protects, preserves, transports, informs, and sells. In many countries it is fully integrated into government, business, institutional, industrial, and personal use.
(Wikipedia, Packaging, 12/20/2010)
Applications
Controlled Release
Fuel Tanks
Thermoforming Packaging
Thermoforming Containers
Recent US Patents
2/15/2011
7,886,665
Method of manufacturing of low-odor packaging materials
Biro and Rooney of Sun Chemical, New Jersey, produced a low-odor, printed packaging material. In this process, the printed ink is activated by exposure to actinic radiation, such as UV light, before an actinic-radiation curable coating is applied thereto. The exposure of the printed ink to UV light reduces residual solvent content and odor of the packaging material and improves the friction resistance and gloss of the printed images. Furthermore, the exposure of the printed packaging material to UV light provides an additional benefit of reducing microbial count, thereby extending a shelf-life of the packaged substance, such as food and drugs. (RDC 8/23/2011)
Review Articles
Nanotechnology in plastic food-contact materials
(3719–3738) Journal of Applied Polymer Science 122 #6 (2011)
Hatzigrigoriou and Papaspyrides of the National Technical University of Athens, Greece review the application of nanotechnology in the polymer food-packaging. Emphasis is placed on the benefits of polymer nanocomposite materials in terms of their improved mechanical and processability properties but also in terms of more packaging-oriented attributes, such as enhanced barrier properties. In addition, nanotechnology is expected to introduce some novel and beneficial characteristics to plastic packaging materials. These characteristics include the induction of antimicrobial properties, oxygen scavenging, enzyme immobilization, and sensing of food conditions. Besides these novel properties, the need to explore the potential health impact of nanoparticles is also discussed, with a focus on the possibility of nanocomponent migration into the packaged foodstuff. (RDC 9/7/2011)