How Deposition Plays a Role in the Food Industry

Written by: Denton Vacuum, LLC

Summary: Learn how the food industry utilizes the process of deposition.

In the food packaging industry, plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) are both important applications that are widely used throughout the industry.

Two of the most important types of application in food packaging in regards to coating are silicone oxide and amorphous carbon solely based on their properties.

PECVD is a process where a thin film is produced on top of a particle. It utilizes plasma to allow for deposition at lower temperatures. The process consists of a substrate, the target, being layered with a film that starts out as a gas but through chemical reactions becomes a solid. The food industry has been using this type of technique for a long period of time which proves how efficient it has been – and still is today.

PVD is a physical method that also creates a thin film but does not involve chemical reactions. These types of thin films take on the appearance of foil, but are a lot stronger and thinner. In the food industry, these metallization processes were used for microwave-heating susceptibility purposes. This method continues to be utilized today and has become a basis for further enhancement and research to uncover more efficient techniques.

Another application still used in the food industry today is thin film evaporation which, hence the name evaporates the thin film coating from a liquid to a gas. Done through heat and mass exchangers, these types of evaporators give workers the ability to retain certain physical and chemical features needed when packing food.