The permeabilities of polymeric materials, composites, and whole containers or packages to specific gases and vapors such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor are measured in order to determine the effects of material compositions, packaging configurations, and processing conditions on the expected shelf-life of packaged products. Coating applications are evaluated to determine improvements to barrier properties of plastics. Advanced instrumentation and methods of data analysis determine rates and mechanisms of sorption, desorption and permeation of permeants and migrants in plastic materials, and predict the taste-transfer properties of plastic containers. Other evaluation processes determine leakage and permeation characteristics of closures and investigate such surface phenomena as the effect of surface treatments on permeability and the tendency of beverage-container interfaces to promote carbonation loss through bubble nucleation.
The Institute offers computer modeling as an effective means of analyzing transport behavior and of identifying the critical parameters needed to characterize the suitability of materials and container configurations for specific applications.