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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.
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Courses
Designing Paper Machine Foundations to Control Vibrations -
Designing Paper Machine Foundations to Control Vibrations - Short Course Highlights, 1994 Engineering Conference Proceedings
Conference papers
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Novel Microwave Susceptor Film from New Coplyester Resin, 1992 Polymers, Laminations & Coatings Conference Proceedings
Conference papers
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Customer Driven Quality: An SPC Program for BOPP Film, 1991 Polymers, Laminations & Coatings Conference Proceedings
Conference papers
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In-Plant Tray Forming, 1992 Polymers, Laminations & Coatings
In-Plant Tray Forming, 1992 Polymers, Laminations & Coatings Conference Proceedings
Conference papers
Melt Phase vs. Solid Phase Thermoforming, 1992 Polymers, Lam
Melt Phase vs. Solid Phase Thermoforming, 1992 Polymers, Laminations & Coatings Conference Proceedings
Conference papers
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Development and Applications of Post-Consumer Processing Equipment, 1992 Polymers, Laminations & Coatings Conference Proceedings
Conference papers
Screw Design for Efficient PVDC & EVOH Recycle Extrusion, 19
Screw Design for Efficient PVDC & EVOH Recycle Extrusion, 1992 Polymers, Laminations & Coatings Conference Proceedings