As one of the most often used packaging materials in the food industry, film’s performance directly affects the product’s shelf life, safety, and consumer experience. As essential ingredients to enhance film performance, compatibilizers are essential to guaranteeing the practicality and safety of film contact with food.

Compatibilizers’ functions and importance

In food packaging films, compatibilizers are involved in many different aspects. They are able to Enhance processing performance by lowering processing temperatures, lowering energy usage, and optimizing resin processing properties.

Improve physical characteristics: Compatibilizers can raise the ductility and mechanical strength of films by encouraging contacts between polymers.

Enhanced chemical stability: Compatibilizers prolong the service life of films by assisting to slow down their chemical deterioration during use and storage.

Enhance barrier qualities: Films’ molecular structure can be changed by compatibilizers to enhance their resistance to moisture, oxygen, and other environmental conditions.

Food safety is ensured by compatibilizers meeting food safety requirements and not releasing any dangerous materials.

selection standards and factors to take into account

Buyers selecting a compatibilizer should take into account the following important aspects:

Material compatibility: Verify that the compatibilizer gets along well with other components in the film (like pigments, fillers, resins, etc.).

Thermal stability: For processing to prevent decomposition at high temperatures, the compatibilizer must have adequate thermal stability.

Chemical stability: The compatibilizer need to be easily reacted with by other chemicals and possess good chemical stability.

Food safety: The compatibilizer has to pass the evaluation of food safety and follow the applicable laws and guidelines.

Select a recyclable or degradable compatibilizer to lessen the environmental effect.

Unique compatibilizer application

Application of compatibilizers is also always evolving along with research and technology:

Active packaging: Compatibilizers can create useful films having antioxidant and antibacterial qualities by combining antioxidants and antimicrobial chemicals.

High barrier antibacterial film: New compatibilizers are being developed to allow the film to have antibacterial capabilities and high barrier characteristics.

Biodegradable food packaging films are created to solve environmental concerns using bio-based compatibilizers.

Multipurpose films are those that combine several components, such natural extracts and nanoparticles, to produce films with several purposes.

Coace’s summary

Film compatibilizers for food packaging are essential to raising film performance, guaranteeing food safety, and satisfying legal criteria. Buyers should take into account material compatibility, chemical, thermal, and food safety as well as environmental effect when choosing compatibilizers. Enterprises can gain economically and socially in addition to improving the performance of food packaging films by properly choosing and applying compatibilizers.
Reaching product innovation and satisfying market demand in the food packaging sector depend on the sensible use of compatibilizers. As technology advances and consumer awareness of food safety and environmental protection rises, compatibilizer research and development will also continue to grow, offering the food packaging sector even more prospects.

The function of adhesives in high barrier films

EVOH has outstanding gas and oil barrier qualities, including great resistance to oxygen, water, carbon dioxide, smells, and other contaminants. Because of the poor affinity between some base resins and functional layer resins, adhesive layers must be inserted between the two layers to act as glue in order to make a “integrated” composite film.
The core material of COACE’s K2B incorporates vinyl acetate monomer in its molecular chain, which minimizes polyethylene crystallinity and improves the composite film’s heat sealing ability.

The use of compatibilizers in medium barrier films

COACE’s W1L is polyethylene grafted with MAH as the basic material, and polar groups are added to the non-polar chain. It is an adhesive for both polar and non-polar materials. W1L can act as a connector in a composite film made of polypropylene, polyolefin, and nylon. MAH interacts with the amino group of nylon, significantly increasing the bonding strength between the base resin and the functional layer resin.