TECHNOLOGY | ANTI-COUNTERFEITING
Right: The InSpec-S miniature handheld
surface optical detector from Dotz Nano can be pre-pro- grammed to a specific marker
injection moulding. Detection took place using the InSpec miniature handheld detector to offer real-time authentication and prevent fraud.
Product passports German company Polysecure reports that while signs of interest are visible, anti-counterfeiting additives for plastic compounds remains a niche market. “Traceability for individual products appears to have some momentum, especially in the context of product passports and Industry 4.0 applications. In addition, supply chain monitoring for the circular economy is also drawing increasing interest. The EU commission is also putting forward legislation pertaining to Digital Product Passports (DPP) and Digital Material Passports (DMP),” says Jochen Moesslein, Managing Director. “Original product manufacturers (OEMs) are also looking to anti-counterfeiting measures to protect themselves from unjustified liability and warranty claims. With our Particle-Fingerprint (PFP) technol- ogy, OEMs can combine anti-counterfeiting with individual traceability because the PFP pattern are both individual and forgery-proof. They are created by random processes in the material and therefore cannot be copied,” he says. Moesslein adds that the main technical area of development is the need for robust and forgery- proof unique identifier technology and detection. While there are many companies and people involved in the creation of product pass databases, for example, he says few resources are available and focused on the physical unique identifier technology. To meet this need, the company has developed its PFP technology for DPP and Poltag technology for DMP applications. The company says the uniqueness and counter-
feit protection of individual product identification is of central importance when mapping DPPs. With its PFP technology, upconversion fluorescence particles are added to the plastic compounds. These arrange themselves randomly during the solidifica- tion process and their position is measured. Due to the upconversion effect, only the fluores-
cent particles emit visible light when excited with suitable radiation. All other material components remain dark. This results in a comparatively high contrast, which in turn enables reliable, fast meas- urement at very low particle concentrations. Due to the randomness, the resulting ‘fingerprint’ is unique and cannot be copied and reproduced. In contrast to barcodes, RFID tags or digital watermarks, PFPs are forgery-proof, according to Polysecure. The fluorescent particles are crystalline particles (greater than 1 micron) that are thermally and
66 COMPOUNDING WORLD | December 2022
chemically stable. They have good biocompatibility and are compliant with EU substance law require- ments. The company says EU approval for contact with drinking water has already been granted and approval for food contact is expected soon (it says toxicological tests have been completed with good results). Polysecure says PFP applications include
electronic goods, medical products and general products that are at risk of counterfeiting, requiring a secure return system or that need a product passport for regulatory reasons.
Secure authentication In collaboration with the Charles Sadron Institute (ICS), the company has developed its Poltag technology to allow DMPs to be anchored in the material. Poltag provides a secure and accurate identification technology for materials that can solve challenges such as authentication of materi- als or material components to ward off unjustified warranty claims triggered by other materials or counterfeits. It can also be used to trace materials or material components for origin, certification, composition, manufacturing and batch data to meet regulatory or organisational requirements. Monitoring of recyclates and materials in the circular economy can also be undertaken. Poltags are organic macromolecules with a monomer arrangement that can be specifically synthesised. Due to the practically unlimited combinational possibilities, the company says millions of individual molecules, and therefore distinguishable codes, can be generated. This allows the identification of a correspondingly large number of materials in a ‘material DNA’. Data in the
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IMAGE: DOTZ NANO
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