The Anti-fog Additives consist of organic molecular compounds which are useful for decreasing the water’s surface tension. This is further useful in preventing the accumulation of water droplets on the surface of products. These majorly contain surface-active substances formed by precise calculation of the migration and added during the processing of plastic products and during manufacturing processes.
These have high utility in the food packaging industry for increasing the attractiveness of the packaging along with the substantial rise in the shelf life of packaged products. The most commonly used antifogging additive is polyglycerol esters which are of high utility in polyolefin as well as PVC films Wagner, P. (2001).These are usually lasting for 3 months and up to a year as per multiple packaging layers and thus provide short-term protection to food as per its shelf life.
HOW DO ANTIFOGGING ADDITIVES WORK:
These anti-fogging additives work by preventing the formation of condensed water droplets on the surface of products and thus prevent the formation of fog. These additives work by activation of surface molecules which help in reducing the surface tension of the molecules of water which otherwise might condense and result in condensation on the surface of the film. Thus these additives help in decreasing the surface tension which exists between substrates surface as well as water molecules. Also, there is a substantial decrease in the contact angle (Plasman et al., 2005) of the molecules of water.
This results in the formation of a uniform layer of water molecules on the surface of the film which ultimately enhances the transparency across the molecules of water on the surface of the product. This consequently results in reducing any lens effects occurring due to droplets of water. Also, some anti-fogging additives have viscose liquids added to them, and subsequent dilution of these high results in quick migration towards the surface of the polymer by decreasing the surface tension and presents condensation of water. as small discrete droplets but as a continuous water film. This will provide full transparency of the packaging and also help to prevent the collection of moisture in the packaging that could lead to a loss of product quality and shortened shelf-life.
DIFFERENT MANUFACTURING TYPES AND UTILITIES OF ANTI-FOGGING ADDITIVES:
Most of the times they are added internally into the polymer while the extrusion process and they migrate to the surface of the product and spreading the water droplets into a uniform layer and ensure a high level of transparency in fabricated film. Also, they exist in various forms such as liquid, paste as well as pellet form in the case of food wraps as well as microbead structure in agriculture and greenhouse films. Also, they exist in vegetable and non-vegetable forms and also synthetic forms.
In addition to this, the anti-fogging performance scale is used for analysing the performance such as Moderate anti-fogging performance as well as Good anti-fogging performance and in some cases no anti-fogging activity.
APPLICATIONS:
- These are used in food packaging as well as during the formation of plastic films. These are also used in manufacturing helmet visors along with other highly transparent surfaces like glass surfaces as well as in case optical applications.
- Also, it has wide applicability in agricultural practices by producing agricultural films as well as a greenhouse film production which enhances transmission of light and increases crop yield.
- This results in improved light transmission and transparency which has benefits in both agricultural and food packaging applications.
- Also, these anti-fogging additives help in reducing crop damage which takes place due to the formation of water droplets and deteriorates crop quality and also enhances scattering light as well as dripping (Zhao et al., 201These anti-fog additives are majorly put into polymer concentrates.
TYPES OF ANTI-FOGGING ADDITIVES:
- The chemical nature of anti-fogging additives varies in terms of glycerol Esters, Ethoxylated Sorbitan Esters, Polyglycerol Esters as well as Polyoxyethylene Esters as well as Sorbitan Esters.
- In addition to these, some other chemical additives for anti-fogging purposes consist of Polyoxyethylene esters of oleic acid as well as Titanium Dioxide and Gelatin.
- Also, special anti-fogging additives are designed for utility PVC and consist of distilled monoglyceride (Wei et al., 2017).
- Also mixed mono as well as di- and triglycerides along with fatty acid esters of polyhydroxy alcohols are another form of anti-fogging agents.
ADVANTAGES OF USING ANTIFOGGING ADDITIVES:
· These additives enhance the shelf life of products and preventing spoilage of food.
· Also this increases the aesthetic appearance and quality
· These anti-fogging additives have the capability of running lamination as well as the printing process, by overcoming the problems associated with adhesion forces.
· In addition to this, it provides a high level of transparency to food wrap films as well as other packaging even during cold storage(Tristantini et al., 2011).
· These help in preventing fogging from hot as well as chilled packaged food.
· They have high utility on PVC grades by adjustment of the concentration of the additive being used.
SPECIAL TYPES OF ANTI-FOGGING ADDITIVES:
Some anti-fogging additives which are based on polyglycerol esters can be of vegetable origin and also special additives are water-based along with a few of them as solvent-free additives.
Most anti-fog additives are highly efficient at lower concentrations and also used for a diverse group of polymers like PVC, PET, PS as well as BOPP. This reduces wastage of food and reduced the generation of waste due to less spoilage of food.
FAQS:
Q1: What are anti-fogging additives?
Ans: These are additives that are used for preventing the formation of fog which is condensed water droplets on the surface of films by reducing surface tension and also evenly distributing the layer of water.
Q2: What are the benefits of using anti-fogging additives?
Ans: They help in reducing the spoilage of food and also improved the transparency of packaged foods along with high resistance of spoilage of food when packed at extremely high or extremely low temperature.
Q3: How anti-fogging additive work?
Ans: The anti-fogging additives work by reducing the contact angle of the molecules of water as well as surface tension by avoiding the formation of any water droplets on the surface of the film. Also, majority of these additives have migratory action towards to surface of films and thus provide anti-fogging activity.