Dr. José Luis Feijoo-Gómez presented at the SPE Polyolefins Conference in February 2014 in Houston. He discussed OPTUM®, an innovative masterbatch technology from Ferro that uses non-nanosized lamellar clays to reduce the water vapor transmission rate of polypropylene-based materials used in food packaging. This allows for reduced EVOH content while maintaining barrier performance, even after thermal processing like sterilization. OPTUM® was shown to decrease the water uptake of PP films by over 50% compared to unmodified PP, protecting the barrier properties of EVOH layers during packaging shelf life.

1. Dr. José Luis Feijoo-Gómez
SPE Polyolefins Conference2014
23-26 February Houston
OPTUM® Technology an innovative barrier solution for
polypropylene-based materials in food packaging
applications

2. A global producer of
performance
materials.
Dr. José Luis Feijoo-Gómez
SPE Polyolefins Conference 2014
23-26 February Houston

3. • Founded in 1919, Ferro is a leading,
global producer of performance materials
sold to manufacturers worldwide
• Our customers represent more than 30
industries and span 100-plus countries
• We have manufacturing facilities in the
Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific
• Ferro has more than 5,200 employees
working at sites in 23 countries
Dr. José Luis Feijoo-Gómez
SPE Polyolefins Conference2014
23-26 February Houston

4. Founded in
1919
(Mayfield
Heights, Ohio)
4,600
employees
worldwide
23
countries
$1.8
billion
sales 2012
THE PERFORMANCE MATERIALS COMPANY

5. 5
 Engineered Polymer Materials
 Polymer Additives
 Performance Coatings (Tile Coating
Systems, Porcelain Enamel)
 Pharmaceuticals
Polymer and Ceramic Engineered
Materials Group

6. Engineered Polymer Materials Operations
Stryker, (NW) OH
72 Employees
Operating since 1980
Castellón, Spain
100 Employees
Operating since 1959
PLASTICS
CONFIDENTIAL

7. 7
Carpentersville, IL
35 employees
Operating since 1987
Belongs to Ferro since 1999
Plymouth, In
Gelcoat plant
32 employees
Operating since 1968
Engineered Polymer Materials Operations

8. 8
Engineered Polymer Materials Operations
Evansville, In
Filled and Reinforced Plastics
71 employees on site
Started as Complas in 1973
Belongs to Ferro since 1979

9. Master Batch Technology
Dr. José Luis Feijoo-Gómez
SPE Polyolefins Conference2014
23-26 February Houston

10. OPTUM® BARRIER
DESCRIPTION
• MB based on based on a passive non-nanosized technology for food
packaging in ready meals and some hot beverages in which a heat treatment is
necessary and for this polypropylene is extensively used
• Our proposal is to reduce the EVOH content in the final packaging by
reducing water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) in PP during the thermal
treatment

11. OPTUM® BARRIER
THERMAL TREATMENTS
• Sterilization
Destroy all microorganisms
110 – 130°C for 15 – 3 min
Packaging traditionally uses aluminum but also retort pouches
and multilayered PP-based trays
• Pasteurization
Destroy viable pathogens (needs refrigeration)
About 71°C for 20 sec
Packaging is very diverse

12. Layer structure Applications
Polypropylene For products with high fat content and lids
PP/EVOH/PP
Additionally contains interior EVOH layer as high
extra oxygen and aroma barrier which allows for very
long shelf-life packaging for trays especially
developed for MAP and fresh products
This requires adhesive as sealing interlayers
OPTUM® BARRIER
MARKET OF PP TRAYS
• Yearly, around 3.3 billion of multilayered PP trays for
ready meals in Europe are processed by sterilization
• About 5% of the pasteurization market is also based
on this type of trays (5 billion trays / year)

13. The presence of EVOH in the multilayer structure is key to food quality and
safety because it reduces the ingress of oxygen and the loss of aroma
components during extended package shelf life
When this is subjected to steam during pasteurization or sterilization, water
passing through the protective hydrophobic water-barrier PP layer is thought
to be sorbed on the EVOH layer
Sorption of water is known to have a severe plasticizing effect on the
properties of EVOH and leads to deterioration of the oxygen barrier
performance and delamination
Since rate of water release through the outer PP layer becomes very slow
on cooling, the oxygen permeability can remain elevated for many weeks
• Currently, to reduce this effect during the
thermal treatment, industry increases thickness
of PP or EVOH layers or uses special EVOHs…
OPTUM® BARRIER
TECHNICAL OVERVIEW

14. • WVTR is reduced by tortuosity effect when dispersing
low amounts of lamellar clays with high aspect ratio:
100 – 300 m2/g
• Such ultrathin reinforced polyolefins also promotes a
higher thermal and mechanical performance
maintaining transparence and natural color
• The clays exfoliation into the polyolefin matrix is the key
to success
PP matrix
Clay
H2O
OPTUM® BARRIER
BARRIER PERFORMANCE

15. • PP / Adhesive / EVOH / Adhesive / PP
OPTUM® BARRIER
PP-BASED MULTILAYER STRUCTURE

16. PP / Adhesive / EVOH / Adhesive / PP
OPTUM® BARRIER
PP-BASED MULTILAYER STRUCTURE
Figure 1. Film extrusion of the composites

17. OPTUM® BARRIER
PP-BASED MULTILAYER STRUCTURE
Figure 2. SEM images of the unfilled
polypropylene and the OPTUM® composite
films.

18. OPTUM® BARRIER
PP-BASED MULTILAYER STRUCTURE
Figure 3. DSC curves of unfilled PP
(black) and OPTUM® composite (grey)
films.

19. OPTUM® BARRIER
PP-BASED MULTILAYER STRUCTURE
Figure 4. Box plot of the water uptake on
the films.

20. OPTUM® BARRIER
PP-BASED MULTILAYER STRUCTURE
Films Water Uptake (g/m2µm) Reduction (%)
Unfilled PP 1,219 ± 151 -
MMT 1,020 ± 204 16.3
Bentonite 906 ± 185 25.7
OM bentonite 828 ± 236 32.1
OPTUM® 525 ± 84 56.9
Table 1. Average values of water uptake of the PP films.

21. CONCLUSIONS
• Permeation study during the steam treatment showed that the
incorporation of OPTUM® generates a significant effect on the barrier
properties of polypropylene.
• The morphology results showed that the incorporated functional fillers in
the masterbatch were properly dispersed in a polymer matrix, obtaining a
highly exfoliated-structure composite.
• Since the crystallinity of the composite is in the order of polypropylene,
the decreased of water vapor permeability can be attributable solely to the
incorporation of the functional fillers.
Dr. José Luis Feijoo-Gómez
SPE Polyolefins Conference2014
23-26 February Houston

22. THANK YOU FOR YOUR
ATTENTION
jose.feijooj@ferro.com
Dr. José Luis Feijoo-Gómez
SPE Polyolefins Conference2014
23-26 February Houston