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Adhesion with purpose: The value of primers in sustainable flexible packaging, TAPPI Journal July 2025
ABSTRACT: Primers play a crucial role in flexible packaging by providing adhesion, enhancing performance, and improving the overall quality of packaging structures. As the packaging industry shifts towards more sustainable solutions, it brings new challenges for meeting adhesion requirements. Different types of sustainable materials, with their complicated physical and chemical properties, usually result in poor adhesion in extrusion coating or extrusion lamination, whether this is due to fast crystallization, secondary crystallization, low processing temperature, lack of functional groups, or a combination thereof. Water-based primers ensure that these innovations meet both functional and environmental standards for the packaging of tomorrow. Conventional water-based primers, including polyethyleneimine (PEI) and ethylene acrylic acid (EAA), offer significant advantages in sustainable packaging design by chemically modifying the surface of the substrate to enhance adhesion. In this study, we will discuss adhesion issues in three case studies involving sustainable packaging materials: (1) extrusion coating of polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) on paper; (2) extrusion lamination of paper and metallized film with starch biopolymer; and (3) extrusion coating of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) on paper. These cases represent three adhesion challenges related to sustainable materials, namely fast crystallization rate, low processing temperature, and secondary crystallization. A three-step adhesion improvement procedure was employed to identify the proper primer in each case study. This procedure included a wetting-out test with primer, an adhesion test, and an extrusion test with priming. In our results, strong fiber tearing or destructive bonds were achieved in each case with the help of water-based primers. These results demonstrate the value of water-based primers in enabling the transition to more sustainable packaging structures without compromising performance.
Optimizing and Streamlining Channel Geometry In Multilayer B
Optimizing and Streamlining Channel Geometry In Multilayer Blown Film Dies, 2009 Flexible Packaging - Trends & Technology Development Symposium
Courses
Designing Paper Machine Foundations to Control Vibrations -
Designing Paper Machine Foundations to Control Vibrations - Short Course Highlights, 1994 Engineering Conference Proceedings
Conference papers
Future of UV and EB Lithographic Ink & Coatings, 1991 Polyme
Future of UV and EB Lithographic Ink & Coatings, 1991 Polymers, Laminations & Coatings Conference Proceedings
Conference papers
Ultraviolet Curing and Recent Advances, 1991 Polymers, Lamin
Ultraviolet Curing and Recent Advances, 1991 Polymers, Laminations & Coatings Conference Proceedings
Conference papers
Planning Your New Extrusion Coating Line: A Project Engineer
Planning Your New Extrusion Coating Line: A Project Engineer's Perspective, 1991 Polymers, Laminations & Coatings Conference Proceedings
Conference papers
Increased Productivity via Innovative Die Design, 1991 Polym
Increased Productivity via Innovative Die Design, 1991 Polymers, Laminations & Coatings Conference Proceedings
Conference papers
UV - Flexo Et Al, 1991 Polymers, Laminations & Coatings Conf
UV - Flexo Et Al, 1991 Polymers, Laminations & Coatings Conference Proceedings
Conference papers
Film and Foil Lamination with Ultraviolet (UV) Curable Adhes
Film and Foil Lamination with Ultraviolet (UV) Curable Adhesives, 1991 Polymers, Laminations & Coatings Conference Proceedings
Conference papers
Process Modelling of Contact Extrusion and Coextrusion, 1991
Process Modelling of Contact Extrusion and Coextrusion, 1991 Polymers, Laminations & Coatings Conference Proceedings