Bio-plastics and technologies for eco-sustainable packaging

Transmission welding tests on different eco-sustainable materials were performed using Thulium fiber laser radiation with 2 μm wavelength. All the samples were characterized via infra-red spectroscopy and DSC. The morphology of the materials and the relations between the laser process conditions and the quality of the seam were investigated by means of optical microscopy. Mechanical strength of the weld joints were measured via tensile tests, comparing some of them with different sealing methods and/or original tensile properties of the materials. The morphology of the non-woven material especially plays an important role, compared to the continuous films, as well as the chemical nature of the samples. The experiments demonstrate new application areas of mid-IR fiber laser sources for materials processing.