Recyclable food packaging transparent film comes out

Published on: June 27, 2019 15:31:37 source: Science and Technology Daily

The latest progress in materials science was published in the British journal Nature communication on the 11th: scientists at the University of Oxford in the UK have developed a completely recyclable and very safe transparent film, which can even replace the existing metal coating composites for food packaging. The film adopts a new environmentally friendly manufacturing process, which is easier to recycle than the materials used in the current industry.

A key requirement in today's economic development is to extend the shelf life of food as much as possible on the premise of meeting food safety. Unfortunately, there are serious environmental problems in the current way of food packaging. In view of the needs of sustainable development in the future, people's requirements for packaging are not only "recyclable", but also "recyclable and recyclable". However, the current common composite materials containing metal coatings have great shortcomings in this regard - it can provide a barrier and is very important for food preservation, but this material is very difficult to separate and recycle.

Therefore, Oxford University scientist Dermot ohar and his colleagues have developed a recyclable environmental protection film, which can replace the metal coating currently used in food packaging and provide a similar level of protection for food.

The film synthesized by the research team is composed of layered double hydroxide (an inorganic material). The production process is cheap and green. The materials required are water and amino acids. The obtained film is transparent, like a metal coating, which can isolate oxygen and water vapor, and is relatively strong at the same time. Because this film is synthetic, its composition is completely controllable, which greatly improves their safety in contact with food.

The research team said that at present, the film has met the safety standards of materials used in food contact, and further tests are needed at this stage, so that it can be actually used in food packaging on the market.