About

About Nanopack

A small reference site about materials, written for people who want the mechanism and the numbers rather than the brochure.

What the site covers

Two areas that share more physics than their audiences suspect. The packaging section covers nanoscale materials in food packaging (barrier nanocomposites, antimicrobial and scavenging systems, indicators and sensors) and the regulation that decides what reaches a shelf. The materials section covers the polymers and filled composites used in fused filament 3D printing, and how to read the numbers on their datasheets.

The link between them is the filler. A clay platelet that slows oxygen through a film and a carbon fibre that stiffens a printed bracket are both small, high aspect ratio particles in a polymer, and both only work as well as they are dispersed and aligned.

How the guides are written

Every number on the site comes from a source listed at the foot of the page: manufacturer technical data sheets, peer reviewed papers, the text of EU and US regulation, and EFSA and FDA documents. Where sources disagree the guide gives a range and says so. Datasheet values are measured on moulded or specially printed test bars, so they describe the material under ideal conditions, not a part from a particular printer.

Guides carry the date they were last checked. Regulation changes, and so do filament formulations under an unchanged product name.

What the site is not

Nanopack does not sell filament, packaging or anything else, and it has no affiliation with any research consortium, company or project that has used a similar name. Nothing here is food safety, engineering or legal advice for a specific product.

Photographs come from Wikimedia Commons under the licences listed on the credits page.