As a replacement for the oil-based barrier materials presently being used, research is focused on bio-plastics of e.g. chitosan, whey protein and wheat gluten.
To produce ethanol from grain, a washing process is used to extract starch from wheatflour. At the same time, wheat gluten protein is separated. The VINNOVA project GLUPACK has explored the possibility of using wheat gluten protein as a raw material in barrier bio-plastics for packaging.
The new barrier material has displayed very good mechanical properties and, furthermore, it is a very good barrier against oxygen, which could lead to completely new solutions for packaging.
In GLUPACK, three demonstrators were produced to demonstrate different areas of use for this material.
- Paperboard coated with a layer of wheat gluten to act as a barrier to oxygen, instead of aluminic or plastic coatings
- Lamination of PLA plastic (from corn starch) on the gluten material to act as a water barrier
- Dispersions of wheat gluten used as a coating on paperboard
Bio plastics