Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Food-borne illness remains a top concern within the food processing industry. This phase I Small Business Innovation Research projectputs forth a set of technical objectives and a series of tasks that when completed wil result in a product that will significantly impact food safety. Using patent-pending antimicrobial technology, we will create a rechargeable antimicrobial polyethylene material introducable at a marketable cost. This material will be fast acting against major food-borne pathogens, yet safe and stable for food and humans. Furthermore, the treatment will not deleteriously compromise the mechanical properties of the base material. Completion of the phase I project will lay a solid foundation to transmission to the phase II development. By following a structured commercialization plan, phase II will establish design, material, and process parameters for phase III commercialization. Future applications may extend into a variety of adjacent areas of food safety,animal health, and beyond.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
There is an urgent need in the food processing industry to create surfaces that prevent biofilms andreduce risk of product cross-contamination by pathogens. Our overarching goal is to developacommercially viable and safe additive that when blended withpolymers such as high-densitypolyethylene (HDPE), will confer self-disinfecting properties ontocommon-use surfaces including conveyor belts, cutting boards, and equipment. In thisproject, we will prove the technical merit of our approach and lay a foundation for the commercialization in phase II and beyond. Specifically, our phase I effort will accomplish four major objectives: 1) starting with our prelimary lab results, we will optimize variablesto improve product performance and give guidance to manufacturing at large-scale, 2) we will verify that polymers molded with our additve are biocidal, 3) we will demonstrate that our products are stable in a simulated-food environment, and 4) we will confirm that addingour compound to the base polymer does not have signficantly impact material strength.
Project Methods
The effort will be conductedfollowing a structured project management system. Key activities of the work plan are as follows:Task 1 - perform an optimization study of the reaction inputs using Design of Experiment (DOE) methods. Results will be measured using analytical chemistry tools.Task 2 - produce suffcient quantities of optimized additive suitable for blending into HDPE. Results will be determined based on output quantity, purity, and yield.Task 3 - develop a process for blending antimicrobial additve with HDPE using common production compounding methods. Results will be determined by analyzing dispersion and machine blending parameters.Task 4 - produce molded antimicrobial samples for use in future testing.Task 5 - evaluate the antimicrobial efficacy of molded parts using a modified AATCC-100 timed exposure method. Results will be determined in terms of log reductions of CFUs over controls for a predetermined time-of-exposure to the material.Task 6- verify that the antimicrobial compound does not migrate from the material in a simulated food-contact environment. Results will be evaluated by measuring in migration into test solution using analytical chemistry tools.Task 7 - confirm that the technology is compatible with standardindusty cleaning procedures and chemical exposures. Results will be evaluated by measuring potency after 100 exposure cycles.Task 8 - material properties will be assessed by testing strength of molded parts in accordance with ATSM D256 (tensile strength), D638 (hardness), and D2240 (impact strength).