Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Composite
Patent
1995-12-01
1997-08-05
Pianalto, Bernard
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Composite
427366, 4273741, 427384, 4273981, 427421, 4274301, 427541, 427553, B32B 904
Patent
active
056541031
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a process for the manufacture of a biodegradable, hydrophobic and transparent film.
It also relates to the film obtained by such a process.
Throughout the present application "hydrophobic" will be intended to mean the capacity of the film to be neither wetted nor penetrated by water.
A very great proportion of the films employed at the present time, especially constituting packaging, is made up of synthetic plastics. This trend follows from the low cost and great industrial adaptability of these materials, and from the varied number of forms in which they can be used.
Among them, those most frequently employed are polyethylene, polyester and polyvinyl chloride.
The industrialized countries, in particular for reasons which have to do with ecology, tend to reduce the use of these plastics, especially for packaging. It is well known, in fact, that these materials have a very low or nil degradability. Because of this, they constitute a source of considerable pollution.
It has, of course, been proposed to modify the synthetic polymers employed as packaging, for example by modifying their structure or by coupling them with other molecules, to make them sensitive to the natural degradation process. However, the materials obtained degrade only very partially, and this appears to be insufficient, bearing in mind the enormous quantities of packaging which are employed.
The awakening of the consumers' awareness of ecological problems has led them to turn their back on plastic packaging and films in favor of those consisting of products of natural origin and/or which are easily degraded. Unfortunately, these products do not offer the same mechanical and physical characteristics as plastics. This is especially the case with paper and cardboard.
One objective of the present invention is to propose a process for the manufacture of a film which is biodegradable but also perfectly transparent and hydrophobic, that is to say insensitive to the moisture liable to come into contact with it.
Such a film can be employed as a material for packaging or closures while being inert, at least in the medium term, towards products which are destined to come into contact with it, especially when the latter are of an alimentary type.
Another objective is to propose a process for the manufacture which is both simple and economical.
These objectives are attained, in accordance with the invention, by the fact that this process consists in carrying out the following stages: a plasticizer which is miscible with the hydrocolloid and the solvent; material and then with a solution of a compound capable of ensuring the gelling of the hydrocolloid.
The hydrocolloid is preferably an alginate, a hydrocolloid with which the Applicant Company's research and trials have been more particularly concerned.
The Applicant Company has found that when a film is produced in accordance with this operating method, the latter is not only biodegradable but also hydrophobic and perfectly transparent.
The action of the tanning material can be analyzed both as a tanning and mordanting of the film, namely: film; the compound capable of ensuring the gelling of the alginate.
According to other advantageous characteristics of this process: spraying; aliphatic monoalcohol; glycerol, polyethylene glycol and sorbitol; solution; the group made up of: alginate; quantity of solvent which is smaller than the initial quantity; of rotary heating rollers followed by treatment with microwaves; number of modules of advantageously adjustable power; antioxidants, anti-UV additives, stabilizers and colorants.
The invention also relates to the film obtained by carrying out this process.
Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear on reading the detailed description which is to follow, given with reference to the attached drawings, in which:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a simplified view in perspective of a part of a plant for the manufacture of a film according to the process in accordance with the invention;
FIG.
C.R.E.C.A.
Pianalto Bernard
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