Films and packaging
for food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals

 


Packaging made of paper and plastic are everyday companions through their use for food, medicines or cosmetic products.
The list of specifications related to their functional properties became longer and more severe over the past decades.

The Fraunhofer ISC has many years of experience in the development of functional layers for paper and plastic packaging to meet individual customer requirements.

 

 

With our know-how, the requirements
of the Packaging Act (VerpackG) 2019 can also be mastered.

Award-winning ORMOCER® and bioORMOCER® functional coatings offer a platform solution for sustainable packaging made of:
 

  • conventional plastics (polyolefins, PET, etc.) and from
  • biodegradable or
  • biodegradable or bio-based polymers (PLA, PHA and others) as well as
  • paper/cardboard.

With the help of a extensive network of partners, we also help companies to design and implement innovative environmentally friendly packaging for a wide range of products and accompany them until they are ready for the market.

 



Different products require different packaging concepts

 

We help with support on the possible choice and combination of materials and adapt our coatings so that special requirement profiles matched exactly. Minimum shelf life can thus be guaranteed without oversizing packaging. This is made possible by our highly functional ORMOCER®/bioORMOCER® coating materials, which can combine different properties in one layer:

  • Barriers against water vapour, oxygen, flavourings and MOSH/MOAH
  • Abrasion resistant, water repellent and chemically stable layers
  • Active oxygen barrier property (oxygen scavenger)
  • Antimicrobially effective layers
  • Light and UV-resistant coatings

Films as well as three-dimensional geometries can be upgraded with our very thin functional layers (< 1 µm - 3 µm) using state-of-the-art application processes. This enables us to produce biodegradable or easily recyclable packaging.

Our innovations

Here you will find our contribution to modern environmentally friendly packaging:

Conventional packaging films are high-performance products - but unfortunately hardly recyclable. Our transparent multifunctional barrier coating combines many packaging functions in 1 to 3 µm and adheres very well to plastics or paper. This makes it possible to create a so-called monofilm for easily recyclable packaging. This barrier concept can also be transferred to complex geometries for rigid packaging.


 

Benefits:

  • Mono films according to packaging law realizable for all plastics incl. recyclates
  • Only 1 - 3 µm transparent ORMOCER® layer combines all essential functionalities

 

Specific questions or callback required?

Contact us today without obligation.

» Send request

We have also developed special barrier concepts for paper and board based materials:

  • for packaging for food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical products and
  • for packaging for more demanding technical products

Our barrier layers now enable packaging solutions made of paper or cardboard with properties close to those of plastic packaging. In addition, the packaging can also be made completely compostable with the bioORMOCER® option.

 

 

Benefits:

  • Barrier properties close to those of plastic packaging
  • Additional properties such as oleophobic, scratch-resistant, printable
  • Wafer-thin layer does not interfere with the recycling process

 

Specific questions or callback required?

Contact us today without obligation.

» Send request

The innovative synthesis of environmentally friendly silicates and biogenic raw materials: multifunctional barrier and additionally biodegradable.

Awarded by Ellen MacArthur Foundation



Bio-based and biodegradable - the new bioORMOCER® coatings

To make packaging materials more environmentally friendly, barrier layers must also become bio-based and biodegradable.

With its newly developed bioORMOCER® coatings, the Fraunhofer ISC can significantly improve the barrier performance of conventional bio-packaging.

  • Very good barrier properties against: water vapor, oxygen, aromas, plasticizers, MOSH/MOAH
  • Additional adjustable functions:
    • Antistatic
    • Anti-adhesive
    • Abrasion resistant
  • Moisture-triggered antimicrobial effectiveness
  • Biodegradability adjustable in time
  • High optical quality

Through inorganic-organic material combinations, properties can be specifically optimized and adapted to the product.


 

Specific questions or callback required?

Contact us today without obligation.

» Send request

 

Sustainability Awards 2020

Award in the categories "Bio Based" and "Overall Winner" for our bioORMOCER® barrier coatings.

In addition to the "basics", we can also equip packaging with "smart" functions. These include active functions such as oxygen scavengers, UV protection or counterfeit protection, as well as many sensory functions that we incorporate by means of molecules and/or particles. For example, in the case of exposure to gases (oxygen, CO, etc.) or heat (interruption of the cold chain), mechanical influences (e.g. impact) and other undesirable influences can be integrated directly into the packaging material as a sensory function.

We have also developed modern solutions for the glueing and later simple separation of packaging in recycling.

 


 

 

Specific questions or callback required?

Contact us today without obligation.

» Send request

Benefits of barrier coatings

  • Thermally and chemically stable
  • Transparent
  • Resistant to bending
  • Processing at mild reaction conditions
  • Roll-to-roll processing
  • Long workability
  • Combination of multiple functions in one system (if they are combinable) 

Main focus

  • Innovative barrier solutions against gases, vapors, flavorings, odorants, plasticizers, migrating monomers, etc. for films and packaging made of plastics
  • Functional coatings for packaging made of paper or cardboard to protect from gases, water, oils, fats and abrasion
  • Concepts for recyclable barrier layers for packaging


  • Biobased and degradable functional lacquers (bioORMOCER®) for films and rigid packaging made of plastics and paper:
    • Time-controllable biological degradation
    • Very good barrier properties against water vapor, oxygen, flavorings, plasticizers
    • Antimicrobial efficacy
  • Smart packaging solutions with sensor (e.g. oxygen ingress) or other active (e.g. scavenger) functions

Service

  • Characterization of the coatings and evaluation of the properties
  • Scale-up of paint syntheses in pilot and production batch sizes and provision of the paints
  • Creation of safety and technical data sheets
  • Technology transfer and accompanying support until market launch

Your local contact

Ferdinand Somorowsky

Contact Press / Media

Dr. Ferdinand Somorowsky

Head of Chemical Coating Technology

Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC
Neunerplatz 2
97082 Würzburg, Germany

Phone +49 931 4100-256

  • Send email
Victor Trapp

Contact Press / Media

Dr. Victor Trapp

Head of Marketing and Sales

Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC
Neunerplatz 2
97082 Würzburg, Germany

Phone +49 931 4100-370