Super-barrier film matches glass.

Applying a combination of organic and inorganic barrier materials in submicron layers to a substrate of BOPET film creates a gas and moisture barrier that is effectively impermeable (0.0001 cc/[m.sub.2] of oxygen in 24 hr), according to the Fraunhofer Institute for Engineering and Packaging in Freising, Germany. The film was presented last month at the Barrier Film and Stand-Up Pouches conference in Brussels, sponsored by European Plastics News, London.

Organic/inorganic hybrid barrier materials, which Fraunhofer calls Ormocers, are organically modified ceramics, consisting of a silicon oxide network with organic crosslinkers. They are applied 100 to 1000 nanometers thick by roll coating, then combined with inorganic aluminum oxide or silicon oxide 20 to 100 nm thick to achieve super-barrier properties. Fraunhofer's latest development is the application of hybrid coatings to 12-micron BOPET film. The super-barrier film (U.S. Patent # 6369316) was developed with Isovolta AG in Austria, which plans to commercialize it late this year to replace glass in small photovoltaic batteries. Fraunhofer: + 49 (8161) 491-5001www.ivv.fraunhofer.de * European Plastics New: [phone] * www.plastics-events.corn