Emergent High-Barrier Flexible Package Structures: Do These Materials Signal the Demise of Cans and Glass?, 1997 Polymers, Laminations & Coatings Conference Proceedings
Since the beginnings of plastic packaging during the 194Os, one of the objectives has been to capture market share held by metal cans and glass bottles and jars. Among the reasons for metal and glass package structures are their effective barriers against oxygen entry and moisture transfer. Most wet products are subject to changes as a result of exposure to the oxygen of air. Thus, most metal and glass packages are evacuated prior to hermetic closure to reduce the adverse interactions of oxygen. After closure, the primary reactions are from residual oxygen, because the metal and glass are nearly perfect barriers and the closures are quite good.
Plastics suffer from finite gas permeability plus transmission through compromises in the integrity of seals and even variations in wall thicknesses. Further issues include variations in the gas permeation rate as a function of environmental temperature, gas pressure, etc.
Emergent High-Barrier Flexible Package Structures: Do These Materials Signal the Demise of Cans and
