Permeability and Nylon Films
In the third and final segment introducing permeability as a topic in nylon and polymers in general, we are covering some specific aspects of permeability that guide product design in everyday applications of films and packaging.
Film packaging is a major consumer of polymers, including nylon. Typically, a mixture of different polymer chemistries are blown into extremely thin films, and then sealed together into final film products. These become barriers used to shield consumer goods such as foods, disposables, medicines, and more.
These specialty films must protect the product, often along extremely long journeys from the production plant to point of sale. At the precise thinness and weight margins of films, every detail matters. When products are packaged, they must remain sealed, protected from the environment, and also from falling out of their packaging, potentially being contaminated, damaged, or lost..
Beyond physical protection, there is a term we must introduce: barrier properties. A film’s barrier properties describe its resistance to light, moisture and oxygen. The requirements for these different characteristics change dramatically based on what the package holds. You might want something that allows moisture to exit the packaging, or you might need to keep gasses sealed tightly within. Identifying these needs is the foundation of understanding which material is the best fit for your film or packaging.
For example: nylon resins have extremely good oxygen barrier properties but can often be formulated to be co2 permeable. This means that if your product has a tendency to release or produce co2 during its shelf life the packaging will allow that to leave without allowing oxygen in. This can mean products like cheeses can shed gasses which would spoil their flavor or balloon the packaging without allowing in oxygen to promote mold growth.
The right specialty Nylon resin is also extremely light, safe for food contact, resists many different chemicals that can damage or degrade some polymers, and is puncture and scuff-resistant. Nylon is relatively easy to process into whatever form factor or use-case you need. All desirable facets of an effective disposable packaging material.
Far from being a disposable aesthetic product or a marketing gimmick, food packaging (and the barrier properties of nylon used in it) serves a vital function: it increases the shelf life of foods, preventing food waste, and reducing lost energy, CO2 and resources.
Nylon is also an important component for a special type of packaging called MAP packaging. “Modified Atmosphere Packaging” is used when a careful selection of gasses are packaged into foods in order to increase their shelf life. Nylon allows these gasses to remain in the food packaging longer by being impermeable to those specific gasses, while letting the co2 pass, slowing potential spoilage.
Nylon is useful for making clear packaging or with additives to make it opaque. Clear packaging has obvious benefits, primarily showing what’s inside the packaging. If your product is fruit or a brightly colored product, you want to display it. However, light permeability can lead to spoilage as well. This is why the flexibility of nylon additives makes Nylon a material of choice across a wide spectrum of product packaging needs.
Moisture / water permeability, or lack thereof, is another useful element of Nylon. Nylon’s resistance to heat makes it suitable for microwave applications. And its ability to trap in water without absorbing grease or acids can make it a perfect vessel to trap steam to cook foods without adding strange flavors or releasing potentially harmful chemicals.
Managing which gasses, how much light, and how much vapor can pass through your packaging is a foundation of working with films, and working with nylon resins. The correctly-selected nylon will bring strength, oxygen barrier properties, and vapor barrier properties, along with toughness and processability. NYCOA’s experience in designing polymers to meet specific needs in films and extruded packaging solutions means that we are ready to help see which of our products could meet your packaging and film needs.
About NYCOA
NYCOA (the Nylon Corporation of America) commercially manufactures many grades of specialty engineered nylon, including nylon 6, nylon copolymers, filled and super-tough grades, nylon 6,10 and 6,12, and unique long-chain polyamide family NXTamid , and our unique flexible PEBA Nylon Ny-Flex. All NYCOA products are made in the USA, manufactured in our ISO plant located in Manchester, NH. NYCOA is dedicated to plastics engineering, plastics innovation, and a consistent quality earned through operational excellence. NYCOA is dedicated to its customers, and produces specialty engineered polymers for industries and partners around the world, and has plastics compounding capabilities to produce a variety of reinforced grades.
Nylon manufactures for many industries and applications, including fasteners, hook and loop, extruded parts, injection molding, athletic accessories, military and transportation applications, foamed components, monofilament, powders, and wire and cable jacketing.
Interested in a sample of our specialty nylon grades, or more information about their chemical resistance and permeability properties? CONTACT US
Contact:
333 Sundial Ave.
Manchester, NH 03103-7230
Tel: 603.627.5150
Fax: 603.627.4499