Bobst Manchester has installed new instruments at its in-house laboratory to offer barrier and adhesion measuring services for film producers and converters.
Image: The new equipment at Bobst Manchester’s in-house laboratory. Photo: courtesy of BOBST.
The new equipment at the Bobst Manchester’s Centre of Excellence for High Barrier will allow the company’s team to conduct metallizing trials of films as requested by companies.
The equipment comprises two new MOCON units, the MOCON OX-TRAN2/22 for OTR measurement and MOCON PERMATRAN-W 3/34 for measuring water vapou (WVTR).
Bobst said that the measurement systems are designed for testing the permeation of both oxygen (OTR) and water vapour (WVTR) on metallized film as well as AlOx clear barrier film.
The firm said in a statement: “Barrier levels are imperative in the case of material being used for food packaging to ensure the food doesn’t spoil and meets the required shelf life.”
Additional new equipment at the laboratory include a Mecmesin MultiTest 2.5-I Tensile Tester to perform the European Metallizers Association (EMA) ethylene acrylic acid (EAA) test which measures metal adhesion levels.
The test aims to assess if the material is suitable to be used for packaging, the firm noted.
Moreover, the laboratory allows for testing to demonstrate the difference in adhesion levels between standard metallized film and film produced using the BOBST AluBond process.
Launched earlier this year, the Bobst’s AluBond process is claimed to offer high metal adhesion and surface energy levels through vacuum metallization.
Bobst’s AluBond is an in-line hybrid coating technology which promotes chemical anchoring (chelation) of the first aluminium particles and create a metalizing seeding layer that offers high bond strength properties.
AluBond has shown that it can significantly increase metal bond strength and metal adhesion on the most commonly used substrates (PET, BOPP, CPP and PE) during aluminium vacuum metallization.
Additionally, the process has also showed that it can increase dyne level retention that can translate to improved ink wettability during printing and enhances structure stability during lamination, Bobst earlier said.
Swiss packaging company Bobst is engaged supplying equipment and services to packaging and label manufacturers in the folding carton, corrugated board and flexible materials industries.