Three different plastic films of biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP), biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate (BOPET) and low‐density polyethylene (LDPE) were perforated using Nd‐YAG laser. Effects of laser pulse energy were examined by varying energies from 50 to 250 mJ where the pulse duration and pulse repetition were kept constant at 10 ns and 1 Hz, respectively. It was found that perforation diameters of all films increased with increasing pulse energies. Observed perforations were different among the three film types. Explanation was contributed to material inherent property and its interaction with laser. Incorporation of an inorganic filler (i.e. silica based anti‐blocking agent used in packaging film) of 0.5 wt% into the LDPE films (0.5Si‐LDPE) could improve perforation performance for LDPE. This was attributed to an increased thermal diffusivity of the 0.5Si‐LDPE film. Commercial BOPET and BOPP films containing 97 microholes/m2 (hole diameter of ~100 µm) showed an improvement in oxygen transmission rates (OTR) of 18 and 5 times that of the neat films without perforation. In the case of perforated 0.5Si‐LDPE films having similar perforations of 97 microholes/m2 and perforation diameter of 100 µm, a two‐fold increase of OTR was obtained. Gas transmission rates of the microperforated films were measured based on the static method. Measured OTR and CO2TR values of the three films with varying perforation diameters in a range of ~40–300 µm were compared and discussed. Overall results clearly indicate that perforation by laser is an effective process in developing breathable films with tailored oxygen transmission property for fresh produce packaging. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This study demonstrates a practical means to overcome inherent brittleness problem of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and make PLA feasible as packaging material. PLA with suitable processability is utterly required for package manufacturers, where flexible, tough PLA film is essential for packers and end users. Highly flexible PLA films with 60-fold increase in elongation at break (Eb) over that of the neat PLA were successfully produced by integrating effective reactive blending and economical film blowing process. The 'two-step' blending was used to prepare PLA compound; poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT -another biodegradable polymer) was first blended with 0.5-1% chain extender (epoxy-functionalized styrene acrylic copolymer) (ESA), followed by subsequent blending with PLA in twin-screw extruder. Blown films of reactive blend of PLA/PBAT/ESA (80/20/1) showed impressively high Eb of 250% versus a very low Eb of 4% for the neat PLA. Resulting blown films still possessed high modulus of 2 GPa, yield stress of 50-60 MPa and good toughness of~100 MPa. Significant enhancement in the film's ductility was attributed to homogeneous blend with developed fine strand-like structure as a result of effective in situ compatibilization and good interfacial adhesion between the PLA and PBAT. PLA/PBAT/ESA blend also offered improved processability. Resulting films had acceptable haze of~10% for common packaging, and clearer film close to PLA (≤2%) could be obtained by designing PLA skin layers in multilayer structure. Films of PLA/PBAT/1%ESA exhibit potential as packaging material; their mechanical and optical properties are comparable with or even exceed some existing films used in the market.

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Porous polypropylene (PP) films with greater gas permeability and lower permeability ratios (β) than existing commercial films were developed for fresh produce packaging. PP containing high content of beta‐form crystal was biaxially stretched under controlled conditions. Resulting porous films with uniquely high oxygen transmission rate (OTR) of 2 659 000 cm3⋅m−2⋅d−1, water vapor transmission rate of 67 g⋅m−2⋅d−1, and β value of 0.76 was used as a “breathable window” attached to the less permeable commercial BOPP (biaxially oriented PP) lidding film. Various sizes/areas of the breathable windows were designed and tested on packaging asparagus of 400 g, at 5°C. Results demonstrated that in‐pack O2 and CO2 concentrations could be practically controlled and modified by changing areas of the breathable windows. Altered porous high OTR area directly affected total gas permeation of the package. Optimum gas composition of Ο2 and CΟ2 within the recommended controlled atmosphere for asparagus, stored at 5°C, was effectively created and maintained in the package containing 25 cm2 breathable window (15% of total film lid's area). The shelf life of asparagus under optimum modified atmosphere was extended to 29 days, as compared with <3 days in the normal, low OTR tray sealed with BOPP lidding film. Clearly, these developed porous ultrahigh permeable PP films can be useful materials in designing high OTR package with desirable in‐pack O2 and CO2 concentrations. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This study investigated the effect of polylactic acid (PLA) on the mechanical properties and biodegradability of a ternary blend comprising of thermoplastic starch (TPS), Polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT) and PLA. The binary blend (TPS/PBAT) and ternary blend (TPS/PBAT/PLA) with various contents of PLA were prepared through a twin-screw compounding using an intensive mixing screw design. In order to observe the microstructure in blends, the SEM observation revealed the two types of morphology in the blends including (1) some TPS domain that still remained immiscible in all blends and (2) the partially compatible of binary and ternary blends. For the mechanical properties of the blends, the addition of the PLA component led to an improvement of the tensile strength and modulus. For the simple soil burial test, it found that binary film was fully disintegrated within one month, whereas the ternary blend films were also broken down but still remained in small pieces of fragile films. Finally, it can be suggested that the presence of TPS brought to the biodegradation of blends in soil burial test, while incorporating with PLA led to retardation in degradation rate.