BioBarrier4Fiber

Projectname:
Multifunctional biobased water vapor barrier coatings for fiber based packaging materials

Workgroup: Packaging materials

Research Partner and Scientific Guidance:

  1. Fraunhofer-Institut für Verfahrenstechnik und Verpackung IVV Freising, Lorenzo Tomei
  2. in cooperation with Marmara University und Packaging Manufacturers Association ASD, Türkei

IGF: 358 EN
Financing: BMWK
Duration: 2023 – 2025

The aim of the project is to develop a novel coating concept for fiber-based food packaging based on renewable raw materials, which for the first time provides an efficient water vapor barrier with high flexibility, processability, and heat sealability.

The continuous growth of the global population combined with the consumers’ shift towards convenience, mass-production and online-shopping has led to a significant increase in the consumption of packaging materials. On top of that, the high demand for fiber-based packaging can be linked to an increased environmental awareness and policies for sustainability and reducing the production of fossil-based products. Despite the many inherent benefits of fiber-based substrates, including high availability, sustainability and versatility, they provide no significant protective barrier against gas or liquids permeation. This is a critical limit, especially for food-packaging, because oxygen and moisture permeate and trigger food spoilage.

The conventional solution to such a problem is to coat fiber-based substrates with protective layers against gas and moisture permeation. Fossil-based polymers such as PE or EVOH are common for this scope. These materials, however, are not only resource-limited and environmentally harmful, but also hinder the recyclability of the paper.

Thus, biobased solutions have been proposed to replace such fossil-based coatings. Current approaches use renewable polymers such as polysaccharides, proteins and waxes as individual coating layers or as a combination thereof. These coatings provide either barrier functionality towards water vapor or oxygen, or heat sealability. A biobased material that combines all the properties necessary for the production of a packaging for sensitive foodstuffs currently neither exists on the market nor are any successful research approaches to be found.

BioBarrier4Fiber proposes to solve this problem by developing the first biobased coating material with low water vapor permeability, flexibility, processability and heat sealability. To achieve this goal, various suberin fatty acids (SFAs) will be extracted from the cork of oak and beech trees of Germany and Turkey, which represent non-edible waste products from the wood and paper industry, and processed into a multifunctional coating for fiber-based packaging. The suitability of SFAs for such a scope derives from their chemical composition. In fact, they consist of highly functional, polymerizable aliphatic acids of variable length and structure. Their natural role is to act as a hydrophobic protective layer around the periderm of trees. Hence, BioBarrier4Fiber intends to transfer the same biological role into packaging applications.

The project is structured to fully utilize the technical and scientific expertise of the involved research institutes in Germany (Fraunhofer IVV) and Turkey (Marmara University, Sakarya University, Yildiz Technical University, Isparta University). The selection and pretreatment of beech and oak barks as well as the development and optimization of the extraction process of SFAs and the development of the coating material will be performed in close collaboration. Additionally, German researchers will focus on the development of a suitable coating process and barrier characterization, whereas Turkish researchers will perform storage studies as well as the investigations for the suitability as food contact material.

Minutes

The IGF project presented here by the Research Association of the Industrial Association for Food Technology and Packaging (IVLV e.V.) is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action as part of the program for the promotion of industrial community research (IGF) based on a decision of the German Bundestag.