Biofilms

Recent advancements in food packaging have seen a surge in environmentally-friendly alternatives. Food packaging derived from fish skins, or plastic wrap manufactured from food waste sugars, reduce the need for petroleum-based plastics. Agar films are transparent and renewable, despite their brittleness. As an added bonus, these are frequently biodegradeable. But how do you test biofilms?

Typically, films are tested using tensile and puncture tests. For a tensile test, we use the ASTM D882 test, where the sample is mounted between two clamps and tension is increased until the sample fails. Alternatively, we can use a puncture probe to determine the amount of pressure needed to break through the film. With a material that is exposed to different conditions, such as a compostable food scrap collection bag, we might also expose the bag to water for a predetermined amount of time, and then run a puncture test again, or a resilience test.

How do you test films? What texture challenges are you facing right now? Let us know!

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