Advanced coatings are engineered covering applied to the surface of a substrate for functional purposes, such as for instance gas barrier, adsorption, adhesion, wettability, corrosion resistance, UV barrier. Coatings are largely used in the packaging industry to improve the properties of the flexible film substrate and guarantee extended shelf life of the products with a focus on final packaging sustainability. SAES patented functional coatings are obtained from biodegradable water-based and solvent-free lacquers; barrier materials are developed and combined with special additives and crosslinkers to achieve high or ultra-high oxygen barriers and, in synergistic combination with Al metallization or AlOx deposition, to add high moisture barrier properties. Innovative active and barrier functionalities can be obtained by integrating in the lacquer formulation other advanced material such as specialty zeolites and beads/capsules. Chemical reactors equipped with temperature and internal atmosphere controllers can be used for lab-scale and pilot-scale production of lacquers and formulations. Advanced coatings are applied by means of high-speed deposition techniques thanks to an innovative roll-to-roll pilot line designed for coating and lamination; this versatile tool is composed by: - two coating stations suitable for different printing techniques such as gravure, flexo, and slot die - consolidation processes through hot air dryers, IR-lamps, and UV-lamp - dry and wet lamination facilities Coating solutions can be processed on an extended variety of substrates such as plastic films (LDPE, MDO PE, BOPP, BOPET, PA) and bioplastic films (Mater-Bi, PLA) but are also suitable for application on paper-based packaging or modification of cellulose fibers. Compared to other available technologies, the reduced thickness achievable with advanced functional coatings enable the elimination of multilayer films ensuring the recyclability or compostability of the final packaging product, and allows the packaging downgauging (high product-to-package ratios) while keeping high gas barrier properties.
