**Link to the original article on Packaging Europe.** (https://packagingeurope.com/comment/could-this-innovative-technology-replace-plastic-coatings-and-pfas/8389.article)
Cellulotech, a Canadian materials science company, has developed a food contact-approved process that makes paper products resistant to water, grease, oxygen, and vapour — all while preserving recyclability and compostability. In a feature interview with Packaging Europe, Cellulotech founder and CEO Romain Metivet discusses chromatogeny as a potential alternative to plastic coatings, waxes, and PFAS.
Chromatogeny is a green chemistry reaction that grafts long-chain fatty acids onto substrates such as paper, starch, PVOH and minerals, making them superhydrophobic while preserving repulpability and compostability. The process is extremely cost-competitive — as little as 2 mg of reagent per square meter of specific surface area, translating to input costs below 0.02 cents per square meter.
Unlike a coating, chromatogeny is a chemical reaction that forms permanent ester bonds across the full specific surface area of the substrate. Chromatogeny-treated products are monomaterials — not composites — and retain their properties through plying and cutting. Contact angles well above 90° (in some cases reaching 180°) completely inhibit capillary uptake, and the ester bonds are essentially permanent.
The chemistry was discovered by Dr. Daniel Samain, Cellulotech’s Chief Scientist, more than 25 years ago. Earlier pilots fell short on speed and efficiency, limiting adoption. Cellulotech, founded in 2020, took a chemical-engineering approach to develop a scalable process with a reaction time of just 0.1 seconds. The company intends to license the process, produce materials for niche applications, and is finalizing its industrial pilot plans with partners.
Chromatogeny is positioned as a replacement for PE coatings and PFAS in food packaging, with additional applications in non-food packaging, superhydrophobic corrugated cardboard, release liners, paper-based face masks, and oil spill absorption materials. Cellulotech anticipates commercial availability of its industrial machines within the next two to three years.
Read the full feature on **Packaging Europe** (https://packagingeurope.com/comment/could-this-innovative-technology-replace-plastic-coatings-and-pfas/8389.article).