High-tech plastics and materials for better food and medicine packaging as well as more durable paints and varnishes will be developed by a new Industrial Coating and Packaging (ICAP) consortium, which is helmed by the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering  (IMRE),  a research institute of Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).In its first industry-themed project, the  new ICAP consortium  will develop transparent plastics that protect foods and medicines from oxidation and keep them fresher for longer by blocking oxygen, moisture and UV rays.

‘Plastics make up about 40% of most packaging materials with the market set to grow at a faster rate than any other packaging material used today. However, current plastic packaging has its limitations as it allows diffusion of oxygen, moisture and UV light compared to materials like aluminium or tin. This oxidises and degrades perishables like food and pharmaceuticals’, says Dr Li Xu, the IMRE Senior Scientist who is leading the first ICAP project. ‘The ICAP team will be using IMRE’s advanced capabilities to develop new technologies to overcome these limitations. The plastics we develop should also require less energy to produce and allow consumers to see the actual perishable products compared to today’s opaque aluminium-plastic packaging materials. The same technology may also be used to make paints and varnishes that protect surfaces with airtight coatings and block oxidising UV and near infrared rays’, adds Dr Li. The technology can also be adapted to make transparent surface coatings with improved hardness, UV blocking and oxidation-resistant for use in paints and varnishes.

‘Today, consumers want everything cheap and good; this translates to research demands. We need a new generation of food packaging that go beyond their usual functions.  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!’, says Prof Andy Hor, IMRE’s Executive Director. ‘The secret may lie in IMRE’s novel layer-by-layer technology of stacking of modified clay sheets. ICAP members will have access to that’, adds Prof 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.

For further details please contact:
Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), Singapore
Web: www.imre.a-star.edu.sg