TECHNOLOGY | ANTI-COUNTERFEITING
Above: Taggant
technologies available from Dotz Nano include the ValiDotz range of liquid and solid markers
support the ISCC Plus certification scheme to manage credit balances for various production sites, automate reports on declarations, and gain in-depth insights, all from one place.”
Track and trace Over the past few years, Dotz Nano reports a significant increase in demand for plastics additives and marked masterbatches. “Track and trace for the circular economy and authentication for anti-counterfeiting are two main applications. Additional applications we have seen demand for are quality assurance, control of supply chain, and authentication of safety and biomedical products,” says Shirley Shoshaney-Kleiner, the company’s Marketing Director. “As opposed to on-product techniques, such as RFID and NFC, in-product markers that can withstand often extreme production temperatures and pressures are the only means that allow for traceability and transparency of raw materials, rather than finished components or products, enabling full transparency of source materials across the supply chain. This also provides in- creased security because reverse engineering of these materials is extremely difficult,” she says. Shoshaney-Kleiner identifies three key applica-
tion areas. Firstly, traditional anti-counterfeiting and authentication of polymer-based products or components that require higher security levels. These generally include high-value or sensitive products, such as biomedical and bioprocessing consumables and aviation and automotive plastic parts. A second area is supply chain control and transparency for ESG and related circular-economy initiatives, which are often driven by regulatory activities and consumers’ growing awareness of sustainability issues. The third area of application is in-field quantification of materials for quality assurance and dosage management.
64 COMPOUNDING WORLD | December 2022
One of the most prominent trends driving technological advances in anti-counterfeiting and traceability of plastic compounds is the mandating of stricter circular economy-related programs, regulations and policies within the European Union and other regional jurisdictions. Full traceability of plastics compounds is a prerequisite of plastic recycling as there is a need to understand the composition and the quality of the plastic product prior to the recycling processes. The latest advances in in-product marking technologies allow for real-time quantification of plastic compounds to enable a much higher level of supply chain and product management than was previously possible. Dotz Nano has identified a number of current technical areas of interest. “These include the development of markers and masterbatches that can withstand extreme conditions, such as high temperatures exceeding 300°C and prolonged exposure to direct UV sunlight,” says Dr Michael Shtein, Chief Technical Officer and Co-founder. “These are needed for a range of applications including an area where we see high demand, such as agricultural greenhouses. Dotz Nano has devel- oped a series of markers that can withstand tem- peratures of up to 500°C and have photostability of years and we see our next challenge in developing food-grade markers that may have direct contact with food ingredients. We have already started work on that both in terms of R&D and regulation.” The company has developed a family of ValiDotz
markers that can be added in small quantities to any kind of plastics, from simple polymers to high-performance plastics, during processing. “These markers do not change the plastic proper- ties or appearance, and are able to withstand extreme conditions such as high temperatures and pressures during production, or conditions of use such as high photostability that allows integration of those markers into products exposed to direct sunlight,” says Shoshaney-Kleiner. “Detection takes place using our miniature hand-held InSpec detectors that are pre-pro- grammed to detect the specific marker, giving real-time indications of whether the product is authentic. This is a huge advantage to previously needing to take samples off-site to have them externally tested for authenticity,” she says. Dotz Nano has recently been involved in a
project with a customer from the healthcare industry looking for a solution to mark its plastic- made testing consumables to prevent fraud. In order to meet the customers’ requirements, a unique ValiDotz marker was inserted to the thermoplastic material as a masterbatch, prior to
www.compoundingworld.com
IMAGE: DOTZ NANO
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
