By Spencer Hulse
As the world becomes more aware of the dangers of “forever chemicals” such as microplastic particles and PFAs (poly-fluoroalkyl substances), governments and consumer protection advocates are accelerating the pressure to keep these substances out of our environment, away from our clothing and products, and out of our bodies by keeping them away from our foods.
Many of these chemicals were developed with good intentions, such as the Gore-Tex material in the suits worn by firefighters and the plastic materials and coatings in packaging to keep chemicals and pathogens away from our food (and to keep the food fresh by keeping the liquid and oils in the food from leaking out).
However, the microparticles in plastic tend to accumulate in bodies and food supplies as they accumulate because they don’t easily break down. Likewise, chemicals like fluorine, which may be fine in minute amounts such as toothpaste, can become progressively more dangerous as they build up in the human body, causing a host of impacts, including liver damage, decreased fertility, and cancer.
Thankfully, a new development is emerging from the IP Studio of Chang Robotics, a dba of Chang Industrial, that could turn these dangers to our food supply around entirely.
In a recent presentation, materials expert Paul Boynton, former president and CEO of Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc. (whose background also includes work at 3M for nearly ten years, managing products such as Scotch-Brite and Post-It), discussed the great problems “forever chemicals” create as well as the growing regulatory movements to ban PFAs and plastics from food packaging. However, he also notes the growing market opportunities for suitable replacements.
The opportunity for replacements for PFAS substances is substantial. According to Research and Markets, more than 389,000 metric tons of fluoropolymers were produced in 2023 valued at $8 billion. The market is expected to grow 5-7% annually to almost $10 billion by 2026.
Graphene Oxide — A New and Significant Contender
In the same presentation, Dr. Timothy Wei, technology lead for Chang Robotics and a former dean of engineering at top research universities, presented a new breakthrough poised to resolve the problem of forever chemicals and the world’s commercial food supply. The answer? New market use developments of graphene oxide, a nanomaterial comprised of carbon with some oxygen and OH ions. While graphene oxide’s existence has been known for around a century, it was first recognized as an engineering material in 2004. That work was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2010.
Over the course of his career, Wei has secured millions of dollars in grant funding through his research. Additionaly he has founded the Transformational Food Manufacturing Initiative (TFMI), a consortium of industry and university partners creating a public-private partnership to tackle food security issues.
“A few years ago, while I was a dean of engineering, I was building a public-private-partnership where we were trying to look at the problem of feeding a growing global population by looking at food as an advanced manufacturing industry and not just an ag industry,” said Wei.
He continued, “During that time, I met Prof. SonBinh Nguyen, a distinguished professor of chemistry at Northwestern University. He approached me with the idea of using graphene oxide as a replacement for plastic and PFAS in food packaging.”
Nguyen was one of the first people to study the characteristics of graphene oxide and how to manufacture it, according to Wei. Two of Nguyen’s papers have been cited in research literature more than 14,000 times apiece.
In his early work on the subject, Nguyen worked on the novel process of applying graphene oxide to plastic substrates to make really strong, lightweight materials for spacecraft and to enhance barrier properties for electronics. The idea he described to Wei was to use graphene oxide with a paper substrate as a sustainable replacement for plastic and PFAS in food packaging.
In the presentation, Wei shared images of what happens when a drop of water is applied to a piece of paper infused with graphene oxide. The water immediately beads up into a sphere, which demonstrates that the graphene oxide has made it repel water, making it “hydrophobic.” In that test (not the work of Chang Robotics), the paper has been infused with a great deal of graphene oxide.
But what the IP Studio team of Chang Robotics has discovered is that it is possible to get significant barrier performance on paper packaging with hundreds or thousands of times less graphene oxide than was used in the example picture, using science that is proprietary to the IP Studio. Furthermore, the team has proven the technology provides significant oil barrier properties as well.
The result—as demonstrated in food freshness testing—proves that graphene oxide can be highly effective in food preservation, inhibiting the transfer of gases through food packaging.
Graphene oxide has the potential to play a significant role in the food packaging and preservation industry, particularly as food and beverage manufacturers are actively moving away from the plastics used in food packaging. Sustainable, paper-based food packaging materials will see a disproportionate growth in industry as a result of these developments.
In addition to the work with graphene oxide to replace PFAs and plastics, Wei reports the IP Studio is also testing its graphene oxide technology as a reinforcement for disposable plates, cups, tableware, and straws.
At present, the patent work for this technology has been filed, and the work to find suitable customer partners to take the technology to commercialization is well underway under the working brand and entity name “GOEco.”
The Next Step — Regulatory Evaluation
According to Wei, the next steps for GOEco are to proceed with regulatory evaluations to determine and document the safety and sustainability of graphene oxide in food packaging, which the company is pursuing with extreme care.
“Our own laboratory testing and review of the scientific literature are pointing to safety and sustainability,” Wei says. “And we now have industry partners with both experience in FDA approvals and data on graphene oxide safety.”
GOEco has shown that very small amounts of graphene oxide can be used to replace plastic and PFAS in food packaging. “It’s sustainable,” Wei concludes. “It’s strong. It’s at a competitive price point. And it has the potential to transform food packaging for the future of safe, nutritious, affordable food for a growing global population.”
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