Abstract

The advantages of polymeric food packaging are widely recognized but concerns on food contamination as of improper sterilisation and/or disinfection of inner-surface of polymer in contact with food may represent a major risk in food safety. On the other hand, the next generation of food packaging should be suitable for incorporating e-labels and smart labels for improved traceability of the food products. The most important issue is related to both inner and outer surfaces of polymeric foil treatment, playing an important role in packaging and should satisfy the expectations in respect to food safety and attractive labelling. In this regard, non-thermal plasma (NTP) emerged as technology capable of increasing the surface energy of polymers, enhancing adhesion and printability, and has been successfully applied for surface decontamination of both foodstuffs and food packaging. Accordingly, PlasmaPack aims to develop a treating technology based on NTP plasma (coupled DBD-Corona discharges) for double-sided treatment of polymeric foil used in food packaging. This will lead to proper disinfection (sterilisation) of inner surface and facilitates smart labels printing on outer surface.

Keywords

• Flexible production and manufacturing

• Precision engineering

• Surfaces

Project implementation work packages:

WP1. Personalized cold plasma reactor requirements identification, design and in-house fabrication

Expected results:

Technical requirements for DBD-Corona NTP reactors identified following endusers’ consultations;

DBD-Corona NTP reactors subcomponents manufactured;

DBD-Corona NTP system demonstrator manufactured;

Scientific papers published in journals or conference proceedings;

Preliminary tests of demonstrator operability on polymeric substrates.

Project web page;

Activity report.

WP2. Assessment of pre-treatment effect on inner and outer surface of polymeric substrates employed - validation in laboratory working conditions

Expected results:

Selection of efficient inoculation method and drying time on microbial recovery;

Report on influence of DBD pre-treatment on water film homogeneity and distribution;

Report on the inactivation kinetics of each microorganisms by the treatment;

Report of influence of water film presence on microorganism inactivation efficiency using plasma treatment;

Report on stencil design and screen printing masks;

Experiment fiches on screen printing for developing chromic labels;

Project web page updates;

Activity report.

WP3. Assessment of pre-treatment effects on inner-surface structural modifications of various polymers with respect to quality of the food packaging

Expected results:

Report on structural modifications on: film surfaces induced by the treatments;

Treatment effects on mechanical properties of the tested films;

Report on treatment effects on O2 and water vapor barrier properties of the tested films;

Scientific papers published in journals or conference proceedings;

Project web page updates;

Activity report;

WP4. Optimization of DBD-Corona non-thermal plasma architecture and design and evaluation of process integration possibilities

Expected results:

Set of joint technological proposals for DBD-Corona reactor optimization;

Optimized subcomponents integrated at the level of the plasma reactor;

Validation of optimized equipment and final technical adjustments.

Project web page updates;

WP5. Demonstrative evaluation of integration possibilities of DBD-Corona non-thermal plasma technology at pre-industrial scale

Expected results:

Plasma reactor integrated at the level of pre-industrial scale on food-packaging facilities;

Experiments on efficiency of the treatment in regards to screen-printing technology;

Project web page updates;