ipack 2018

••• 10••• Innovazioni L etichetta di domani dinami- ca, sostenibile e economica L’Etichetta Dinamica, un brevetto del Politecnico di Milano e di IIT (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia), com- bina sostenibilità e economicità. Si tratta di una eti- chetta per imballaggi dinamica, in grado di riportare su un display informazioni diverse a seconda delle necessità. E’ stampata o integrata sulla confezione di carta o plastica e totalmente riciclabile e economi- camente sostenibile perché tutti i componenti elet- tronici sono plastici o separabili dalla plastica e tutti i materiali elettronici possono essere recuperati. Infi- ne è dotata di una sorgente energetica fotovoltaica. Antimicrobial packaging keeps food fresh Scientists have developed a lm coated with an antibacterial essential oil found in thyme and oregano S ometimes it seems as if fresh fruits, vegetables and meats go bad in the blink of an eye. Now scientists have developed a pack- aging film coated with clay nano- tubes packed with an antibacteri- al essential oil. The film provides a one-two punch, preventing over- ripening and microbial growth, which could help improve the shelf life of perishables. “Food packaging that is capa- ble of interacting with food can contribute to safety and prevent economic losses from spoilage,” Hayriye Ünal, Ph.D. at Sabanci University in Turkey, says. “Spe- cialized films that can preserve a wide array of foods are highly sought after.” People around the world have been trying to preserve fruits, vegetables and meats since ancient times. Ac- cording to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, about 30 to 40 per cent of the food goes to waste. Sometimes, busy people just don’t have enough time to eat all of the fresh food they buy, but other times food spoils at the grocery store because consumers avoid purchasing imperfect fruits, vegetables and meats. Over the past two decades, sci- entists have been developing al- ternative ways to preserve food, with an extensive focus on pack- aging. Numerous issues, primar- ily the versatility of the materials, have hindered progress. Bacterial contamination and permeability to both oxygen and water vapor are major obstacles. Another challenge is to prevent too much ethylene from building up around foods. It is naturally released by fruits and vegetables aids in the ripening process. But an excess of ethylene trapped underneath the packaging film can cause food to over ripen and rot. To meet the demand for multi- functional packaging, Ünal‘s team started with a polyethylene film. To scavenge for ethylene and provide a gas barrier the group incorporated clay „halloysite na- notubes,“ which are small, hol- low cylinders. The nanotubes prevent oxygen from entering the film, and prevent water vapor and other gases from escaping. In addition they keep ethylene from building up by absorbing it. The researchers loaded these na- notubes with a natural antibacte- rial essential oil found in thyme and oregano called carvacrol and coated the inner surface of the packaging film with the loaded nanotubes to kill microbes. The team wrapped tomatoes, ba- nanas and chicken in the film to test its effectiveness over vary- ing amounts of time compared to foods wrapped in plain polyeth- ylene. After ten days, tomatoes wrapped with the new film were better preserved than the control vegetables. In addition, the new film helped bananas stay more firm and keep their vibrant yellow color after six days compared to the control fruit. And chicken en- veloped with the experimental film and refrigerated for 24 hours showed significantly less bacterial growth than chicken in plain poly- ethylene. As a next step toward industrial application, her team will test the new film to make sure it is safe and nontoxic. With adequate preservation this would not have happened. Photo: Michael Ottersbach / pixelio.de Glass marking fights counterfeiting Research scientists develop a exible marking and identication process For the last few years, the rate of counterfeiting has been increas- ing in almost all areas. Apart from financial losses in the billions, counterfeited medications can be fatal. For this reason, the Laser Zentrum Hannover e. V. (LZH) in Germany is working on a flexible marking and identification pro- cess which, among other things, can be used to make medications in glass ampules counterfeit- proof. Using a robust and industrially established marking laser, it will be possible to both individually and quickly mark products with a distinct certificate of authentic- ity. This can be done during the packaging process. This is the vision of the project GLaSIDeE. Scientists at the LZH are working on a process for anti-counterfeit marking on both flat and curved glass surfaces. The laser marking process can be used to generate decorative writing, a number, or a two-dimensional bar code di- rectly in the glass. The markings are only a few nanometers deep. Flexibility is the main advantage, since each part can be individu- ally marked, for example with a serial number, without effort or extra costs. Up to now, there has been no clear identification pro- cess for markings on glass. Thus, in this project a special process should be developed with which each part is given its own indi- vidual fingerprint. The LZH is also developing a reading process for invisible markings. In combination with each other, they will be able to reach a higher anti-counterfeit rate than conventional processes. LZH logo and chessboard pattern with diffractive structures. Photo: LZH Informazione legale IPACK-IMA 2018 Casa editrice: CONNEX Print & Multimedia AG Große Packhofstraße 27/28 · D-30159 Hannover Telefon: +49 511 830936 · Telefax: +49 511 56364608 E-Mail: connex@die-messe.de · Internet: www.die-messe.de Redazione: Cyrus Salimi-Asl · Martin Braun Annunci pubblicitari: Tina Wedekind Stampato da: Druckzentrum Neckar-Alb, D-72764 Reutlingen MESSEJOURNAL DIE MESSE