Assessing Real-Life Sealant Performance in Flexible Packaging, 2000 Polymers, Laminations & Coatings Conference Proceedings

Jeffrey J. Wooster, Laura K. Mergenhagen--The most important function of a sealant is to maintain the complete integrity of the package. In doing so, the sealant contributes to maintaining the proper environment inside the package. Determining the ability of various sealants to maintain package integrity is not simply a matter of measuring heat seal or hot tack strength or initiation temperatures. Although laboratory testing is a valuable means of comparing sealants, it fails to tell the whole story. The ability to completely seal through the folds, contaminants, and wrinkles that occur in an actual packaging environment is not measured by traditional heat seal or hot tack testing. To determine real-life package integrity it is beneficial to make and test actual packages. Testing the integrity of flexible packages allows for better prediction of “real-life” performance, because it characterizes the sealant resin’s “caulkability”. Polyolefin plastomers exhibit excellent caulkability and deliver the sealing characteristics necessary for overall package performance.