Technology Development
oPTI™ Bottle Technology
PTI has developed the first lightweight foamed polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle/jar blow molding process. The oPTI™ (pronounced “opti”) brand name, the process is based on MuCell® technology licensed from Trexel, Inc.
The oPTI™ bottle technology provides...
- A distinctive new visual presence.
- Retains the recycling benefits that inclusion in the clear PET waste stream.
- White or silver, blue and green hues also can be used since those color streams already exist in traditional PET recycling.
- Lightweighting of up to 5 percent.
- Significant light barrier characteristic's up to 95 percent reduction in transmitted light.
In addition to PET, the foam bottle technology is applicable to other resins such as polylactic acid (PLA) and polyethylene naphthalate (PEN). Potential applications include a wide range of bottles and jars in food, beverage, personal care, household chemical, etc. markets.
PTI's oPTI™ bottle capability is based on using the MuCell® microcellular foam injection molding technology to mold preforms, which then can be blow molded on conventional equipment. The bottles are made in four basic steps:
- Nitrogen is injected into the melt through the barrel on a modified perform molding machine to form a single-phase solution of polymer and gas.
- Foam is produced as cavity-fill pressure is dropped below nucleation pressure during the injection cycle.
- Foam cells expand as gas is diffused into bubbles. Processing conditions are used to control cell growth in the finished perform.
- The preforms are blow molded on conventional, unmodified blow molding machines to produce the foam bottles.