The graphic film and label market represent more than 50% of the 55 billion square meter silicone release coating consumption. As demand continues to grow, key market players have invested in high-speed coating technologies with extreme coating speeds of >1000 m/min, which now represents a significant portion of the labels industry. One of the greatest technical challenges associated with high-speed coating processes is suppressing mist generation, an aerosol produced under high-speed separation of the liquid coating at the nip of the coater rolls. Most silicone release coating formulations contain antimist additives (AMA) that generate unacceptable mist levels at line speeds >500 m/min, leading to serious EHS concerns, material loss, more frequent coater cleaning, and poor siliconized substrate quality control caused by silicone mist redeposition.
With cutting-edge imaging technology and sound material science principles, we conceptualized the fundamentals of mist formation during high speed release coating application and were able to draw relationships between the visco-elastic and other key rheological properties of the silicone fluid and its antimist behavior. Based on this understanding, a global cross-functional team successfully developed and scaled-up a novel IP-protected AMA and the corresponding SYL-OFF™ SL-184 coating formulation, meeting the stringent criteria of 50% lower than the current best commercial alternative, and 28x lower than the industrial mist level threshold of 5.0 mg/m3. These benefits set new benchmarks in the release coating market, leading to premium applications performance.
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ABOUT THE ENTRANT
- Name:Na Li
- Type of entry:teamTeam members:Zhenbin Niu
Pierre Chevalier
Thomas Davidian
Alex Knott
Nathalie Gerard
Alexandros Manikis
Alberto Petrosino
Brennan Macmillan
Celine Vlemincq
Xiaoyun Chen - Profession:
- Na is inspired by:Creating a more sustainable solution while maximizing production efficiency to cope with significant growth in demand in the silicone release coating market, exacerbated by COVID-19, was the inspiration for the development of SYL-OFFTM SL-184 antimisting release coating.
Product labeling and barcoding were already key drivers for the release liner market prior to the pandemic. The industrial effort against it led to a rapid growth in demand for labels for medical and food packaging. To cope with the growing demand, production at even higher speeds was one of the few viable options for manufacturers. Matching the market need for labels was paramount to prevent disrupting distribution chains and aid in identifying genuine vs counterfeit products by ensuring essentials such as vaccines, hand sanitizers, and other medical/pharmaceutical products were properly labeled and barcoded. - Software used for this entry:N/A
- Patent status:patented