Investigating the impact of masterbatch technologies on crystalline morphology development in orientated polyolefins for plastic packaging

Responding to regulatory pressures (EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation), the plastics industry is developing recyclable and biodegradable polyolefin barrier films to replace nonrecyclable multi-layer plastics in high-barrier applications, e.g. food packaging. Barrier performance in packaging is linked to the crystalline structure and orientation, which develops during industrial processing. Improvements in mechanical properties, recyclability and biodegradation in packaging is achieved by introducing novel additives, by a masterbatch (MB) during processing. This proposal will investigate the crystalline structure development of polyolefin films with novel MB formulations using temporal SAXS/WAXS and uniaxial drawing experiments. The results will provide valuable insights into how MB additives affect crystalline morphology and mechanical properties during industrial processing.