Fraunhofer Boosts Food Freshness with New Package-Coating Technology

Dresden, Germany, July 8, 2010 -- To preserve freshness in bagged snacks, researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Electron Beam and Plasma Technology in Dresden, Germany have developed a method to coat plastic foils with a very thin barrier layer that keeps out humidity and oxygen, the main culprits of food deterioration.

In addition to extending freshness, the new coating is transparent, allowing the consumer to visually appraise the food.

The key technology that enables this innovation is a vacuum-based, roll-to-roll coating process that can coat several thousand square meters of foil in a single hour. The foil, which can be a common plastic like PET, polypropylene (PP) or polylactic acid (PLA), is coated with a very thin layer of a natural oxide, which hinders the diffusion of humidity or oxygen into the package. This technology provides one of the best and most effective barriers against moisture for transparent foils in the packaging sector to date.

The development of the plasma-assisted vacuum technology was a result of a cooperative effort between the Fraunhofer FEP research institute and two companies from Dresden. The Fraunhofer FEP developed the plasma technology and key components, while Vacuum Technology Dresden (VTD) GmbH provided the hollow cathode as a plasma source and the ISA GmbH equipped the team with the power supply system.

Applied Materials, Inc., a leading supplier of manufacturing equipment for the semiconductor, flat panel display, solar and other industries, worked closely with Fraunhofer FEP in commercializing this technology.

The first plant to use this new plasma-assisted vacuum web coating technology in production is Biofilm’s manufacturing facility in Mexico.