Self Assembling Polymer Membranes in Food Packaging Application
AssigneeDow Global Technologies LLC
InventorsScott T. Matteucci, Leonardo C. Lopez, Shawn D. Feist, Peter N. Nickias, Shrikant N. Khot
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Abstract
A method of packaging a food product using a polymer membrane, the polymer being a self assembling polymeric material, and the method including a.) rendering the said polymer into a film; and b.) packaging a food product in an atmosphere with the said polymer film, wherein said film regulates the atmosphere in which the food product is packaged.
Claims20
A method of packaging a food product using a polymer film, wherein said polymer comprises a macromolecularly self assembling polymeric material, said method comprising the steps of:
- a.) rendering said polymeric material into a polymer film;
- and
- b.) packaging a food product in an atmosphere with said polymer film, wherein said film regulates the atmosphere in which the food product is packaged.
The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein said polymer film regulates carbon dioxide in the food product atmosphere.
The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein said polymer film regulates O2 in said food product atmosphere.
The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein said polymer film regulates water and water vapor in said food product atmosphere.
The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein said polymer film has a CO2/O2 selectivity above 4.5.
The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein said polymer film has a water vapor/O2 selectivity above 10.
The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the molecularly self-assembling material is selected from the group consisting of a polyester-amide, polyether-amide, polyester-urethane, polyether-urethane, polyether-urea, polyester-urea, or a mixture thereof.
The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the molecularly self-assembling material comprises repeat units of formula I:
- Formula I;
- and at least one second repeat unit selected from the ester-amide units of Formula II and III:
- or combinations thereof wherein:
- R is at each occurrence, independently a C2-C20 non-aromatic hydrocarbylene group, a C2-C20 non-aromatic heterohydrocarbylene group, or a polyalkylene oxide group having a group molecular weight of from about 100 grams per mole to about 15000 grams per mole;
- R1 at each occurrence independently is a bond or a C1-C20 non-aromatic hydrocarbylene group;
- R2 at each occurrence independently is a C1-C20 non-aromatic hydrocarbylene group;
- RN is —N(R3)—Ra—N(R3)—, where R3 at each occurrence independently is H or a C1-C6 alkylene and Ra is a C2-C20 non-aromatic hydrocarbylene group, or RN is a C2-C20 heterocycloalkyl group containing the two nitrogen atoms, wherein each nitrogen atom is bonded to a carbonyl group according to formula (III) above;
- n is at least 1 and has a mean value less than 2;
- and
- w represents the ester mol fraction of Formula I, and x, y and z represent the amide or urethane mole fractions of Formulas II, III, and IV, respectively, where w+x+y+z=1, and 0<w<1, and at least one of x, y and z is greater than zero but less than 1.
The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the MSA material is a polymer or oligomer of Formula II or III:
- wherein
- R is at each occurrence, independently a C2-C20 non-aromatic hydrocarbylene group, a C2-C20 non-aromatic heterohydrocarbylene group, or a polyalkylene oxide group having a group molecular weight of from about 100 grams per mole to about 15000 grams per mole;
- R1 at each occurrence independently is a bond or a C1-C20 non-aromatic hydrocarbylene group;
- R2 at each occurrence independently is a C1-C20 non-aromatic hydrocarbylene group;
- RN is —N(R3)—Ra—N(R3)—, where R3 at each occurrence independently is H or a C1-C6 alkylene and Ra is a C2-C20 non-aromatic hydrocarbylene group, or RN is a C2-C20 heterocycloalkyl group containing the two nitrogen atoms, wherein each nitrogen atom is bonded to a carbonyl group according to formula (III) above;
- n is at least 1 and has a mean value less than 2;
- and
- x and y represent mole fraction wherein x+y=1, and 0<x<1, and 0<y<1.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.