Antifog action

Polypropylene or polypropene (PP) is a thermoplastic polymer, made by the chemical industry and used in a wide variety of applications, including food packaging, ropes, textiles, plastic parts and reusable containers of various types, thermal pants and shirts made for the military, laboratory equipment, loudspeakers, automotive components, and polymer banknotes. An addition polymer made from the monomer propylene, it is rugged and unusually resistant to many chemical solvents, bases and acids.

Antifog

The term "fog" is used to describe the condensation of water vapour on the surface of a transparent plastic film in the form of small discrete droplets. Physical conditions leading to this phenomenon are:

• A decrease in temperature on the inside of the film below the dew point of the enclosed air/water vapour mixture.
• Cooling of the air near the film to a temperature at which it can no longer retain all water vapour; excess water condenses upon the film.

Internal antifog agents are directly incorporated into plastics to achieve the spreading of condensed water droplets into a continuous and uniform layer of water on the fabricated film.

Internal antifog additives are surface active agents, which have a balanced incompatibility with the polymer matrix. They are added during the extrusion process in pure form, as concentrate or masterbatch. When the film is made they are uniformly dispersed throughout its thickness but they subsequently migrate to the film surface, where they increase the critical wetting tension.

This combined with a partial solubility of the antifog agent in water, which leads to a decrease in surface tension of the water, will significantly diminish the difference between the surface tension of water and the polymer.

Amorphous Polyethylene Terephthalate APET is a thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family that produced by the chemical industry and is used in synthetic fibers; beverage, food and other liquid containers; thermoforming applications; and engineering resins often in combination with glass fiber. It is one of the most important raw materials used in man-made fibers.

rPET (recycled PET)

rPET contains a minimum of 50% of PET derived from post consumer recyclate (PCR) whilst meeting the approved requirements for direct food contact. rPET is a versatile food packaging material having a gas barrier for increased shelf life, superb clarity, strength and rigidity that makes it the material of choice for retailers. rPET is not only made using recycled post consumer waste, it can itself be recycled through approved material recovery facilities.

Recycled PET packaging that can itself be recycled is our contribution to help reduce landfill waste whilst maintaining the safety and protection of food.

Polystyrene is a polymer made from the monomer styrene, a liquid hydrocarbon that is commercially manufactured from petroleum by the chemical industry. At room temperature, polystyrene is normally a solid thermoplastic, but can be melted at higher temperature for molding or extrusion, then resolidified. Styrene is an aromatic monomer, and polystyrene is an aromatic polymer.

Polypropylene

Temperature range: -18ºC up to 120ºC
Ideally suited for Microwave packaging. “From the Freezer to the Microwave”.

Polyethylene Terephthalate

Temperature range: -40ºC up to 70ºC
High transparency. Ideally suited for cold foods.

Polystyrene

Temperature range: -18ºC up to 90ºC
General purpose polymer for disposable tableware