EXTRUSION COATING WITH QENOS ALKATHENE® LDPE

Qenos Alkathene® PE delivers a high quality extrusion coating, ideal for cardboard, plastics, metals and metallised films.

Extrusion coating with Qenos Alkathene® PE utilises specifically tailored polymers giving high quality coating with exceptional processing performance.

Most commonly used for aseptic liquid packaging, flexible packaging and paperboard packaging applications and also for coating pipes, shade cloth, metal sheets and other materials; the inherent long chain molecular branching of LDPE makes it an ideal resin for extrusion coating applications.

Extrusion coating with PE is vital for safe, clean and successful packaging of products throughout Australia and worldwide. The PE layer coated onto cardboard, paper, metallised film, metals or multilayer constructions is an important part of keeping food and liquids fresh and flavourful.

Qenos produces a number of superior Alkathene® LDPE grades for the extrusion coating market. The benefits of extrusion coating with Qenos Alkathene® LDPE include:


  • Excellent processability and throughput
  • Exceptional neck-in performance
  • Higher melt strength for great edge weave control
  • Superior optical properties
  • Excellent organoleptic properties
  • Outstanding heat seal characteristics

In the extrusion coating process neck-in performance is a very important factor. Neck-in refers to the reduction in width of the film which occurs as it is extruded. Minimal neck-in is best to obtain the maximum useable width of the laminated product and reduce trimming. Qenos understands the polymer characteristics affecting neck-in and has designed Alkathene PE extrusion coating grades to minimise neck-in which is vital in production.

Another critical parameter in the extrusion coating process is edge weave - which is the cyclic variation at the edges of the extruded polymer layer. This is mainly a function of the melt strength of the material. These variations in the coating width and thickness need to be managed during and post production to ensure the final product quality. Usually the substrate is extra or over coated to allow for these variations – at a significant expense and waste of materials.

Qenos Alkathene® PE grades have been tailored to produce extrusion coating grades that offer substantial advantages in edge weave performance. These include being able to significantly reduce the web width required to compensate for edge weave. There is less material waste, even at higher line speeds. With Qenos Alkathene extrusion coating grades the variations with edge weave are minimised so the quality is high and the wastage is low.

The great performance of Qenos Alkathene® PE extrusion coating grades is already experienced by many businesses. The material properties allow for improved processability and product performance across a range of PE extrusion coating applications. This delivers value adding and cost saving, and new product development is supported by extensive testing and trials in Qenos’ Australian Technical Centre.

As a local supplier, Qenos has long history working with the Australian manufactures to meet local needs. Qenos and Alkathene® PE is the trusted choice to deliver extrusion coating performance and quality.