February 6, 1997
From Correspondent David George
RALEIGH, North Carolina (CNN) — Ever wonder why soft drinks sometimes go flat even before you’ve opened the bottle? Ever wonder when somebody’s going to do something about it?
Wonder no more. Researchers at North Carolina State University (NCSU) are experimenting with liquid crystal polymers they say could be used to make plastic soda bottles and other plastic packaging virtually impervious to gas leakage, thus greatly increasing the “shelf life” of hundreds of products.
Leakage is a universal problem in plastic packaging. Every plastic soda bottle that rolls off a production line, every food product packed in plastic, and every plastic container of any kind on any store shelf anywhere will leak to some degree. [Read more…] about CNN Sci-Tech: New plastics may keep soft drinks from falling flat