Braskem has signed with the Brazilian Innovation Agency (Finep) an agreement for conducting research into plastic packaging using nanotechnology at the company's Technology Center located at the Triunfo Petrochemical Complex in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The project's objective is to develop plastic resins with strong barrier properties against gases, vapors and chemical solvents for applications in the production of rigid and flexible PE and PP packaging.

The Finep project is expected to be concluded by the end of 2016. Finep will provide a subsidy in the amount of R$2.97 million, while Braskem will invest matching funds in the project of R$1.66 million.

The agreement originated with a public call for proposals for projects using nanotechnology, which is a technology that allows for working with matter on the atomic and molecular scales. To give you an idea, one nanometer is approximately 50,000 times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.