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Nanocolorants for
Dr. Andrew W. Myers,
Mr. John D. Wright, Business
Official, jdwright@tda.com
DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-05ER84259
Amount: $100,000
The packaging industry, the
country's third largest industry with sales over $100 billion annually, uses
color to great advantage to influence consumer perceptions and purchasing
decisions. Although clear, colored
plastic packaging is highly desired by the packaging industry, it cannot be
achieved by a single, inexpensive polymer layer. Unfortunately, those plastics that are easy
to dye (like polyesters and polyamides) are also more expensive due to their
energy-intensive manufacturing processes, while plastics that have much less
imbedded energy (like polyolefins) are much more difficult to color. Currently clear, colored packaging films are
prepared from multi-layer laminates that contain a thin, more expensive colored
layer of polyester (for example) and a less expensive, structural layer that
makes up the bulk package (like polyethylene).
This project will develop technology for producing a clear, colored
packaging film that is made from a single layer of a less expensive plastic,
which would require less energy to produce, save on raw material costs, and decrease
the fabrication costs. In
Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: A clear, colored
The market for energy-intensive thermoplastic polyester films for packaging was 135 million pounds in 2003. The new colored nanocomposites also should exhibit high color permanence and lead to longer-lived products by reducing fading and color migration. Another application would include the use of nanocolorants in the formation of temperature control films that block infrared solar radiation – such films could save energy costs related to the cooling interior spaces like buildings, greenhouses, and cars.