How to balance the transmittance and impact resistance of highly transparent blister boxes in the display of electronic products?
Publish Time: 2025-03-24
In the field of electronic product packaging, highly transparent blister boxes are popular for their excellent display effect and protective performance. When consumers buy electronic products, they often want to see the appearance and details of the product through the packaging, which requires blister boxes to have extremely high transmittance. However, as a packaging material, blister boxes must also have sufficient impact resistance to ensure that the product is protected from damage during transportation, storage and display. How to balance transmittance and impact resistance has become a key challenge in blister packaging design and material selection.
Relationship between transmittance and material selection
Transmittance is an important indicator to measure the optical properties of transparent materials, usually expressed as a percentage. The higher the value, the more transparent the material. Among common blister materials such as PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PVC (polyvinyl chloride), PS (polystyrene) and PP (polypropylene), PET has the highest transmittance, which can reach more than 90%, close to the transparency of glass, so it has become the first choice for high-end electronic product packaging. However, although PET has good light transmittance, pure PET material has relatively weak impact resistance, especially in low temperature environment, it is easy to crack.
In order to improve impact resistance, PET usually needs to be modified. For example, adding impact modifiers or using multi-layer co-extrusion technology can enhance toughness while maintaining high light transmittance. Another solution is to use PC (polycarbonate) material, which has extremely strong impact resistance, but slightly lower light transmittance than PET and higher cost. Therefore, in material selection, manufacturers need to make trade-offs based on the specific needs of the product. For example, high-end electronic products may prefer modified PET, while products that require higher protection may choose PC or composite materials.
Impact of structural design on performance
In addition to the material itself, the structural design of blister boxes also directly affects the balance between light transmittance and impact resistance. Although thicker blister boxes have stronger impact resistance, they may lead to a decrease in light transmittance and increase material costs. Therefore, designers usually use the following methods to optimize the structure:
Rib design: Without significantly increasing the wall thickness, the overall rigidity is improved through a reasonable rib layout to avoid rupture due to local stress concentration.
Surface transition: Use rounded corners or streamlined structures instead of sharp edges to reduce stress concentration points while maintaining uniform light penetration.
Local thickening: Appropriately increase the thickness of key areas susceptible to impact (such as edges and corners), while keeping other areas thinner to balance light transmittance and impact resistance.
In addition, the surface treatment of blister boxes will also affect the optical performance. For example, matte treatment can reduce reflections, but may reduce transparency; while high-gloss surfaces can improve display effects, but are prone to scratches. Therefore, some high-end packaging will use anti-scratch coatings to enhance wear resistance while maintaining high light transmittance.
Optimization of production process
The blister molding process also has a significant impact on the performance of the final product. Temperature control, mold accuracy and cooling rate will affect the crystallinity of the material, which in turn affects the light transmittance and mechanical properties. For example, too high molding temperature may cause material degradation and reduce transparency; while uneven cooling may induce internal stress, making the product more likely to crack when impacted. Therefore, precise control of production parameters and the use of high-quality molds are the key to ensuring the stable performance of blister boxes.
Market Trends and Future Directions
With consumers' concerns about environmental protection and sustainability, bio-based plastics (such as PLA) and recyclable PET (rPET) are gradually entering the high-transparency blister boxes market. However, these materials still face challenges in terms of light transmittance and impact resistance, and further technological breakthroughs are needed. In addition, the rise of smart packaging, such as blister boxes combined with RFID or AR technology, also puts higher requirements on the light transmittance and durability of materials.
The application of high-transparency blister boxes in the packaging of electronic products requires finding the best balance between light transmittance and impact resistance. Through reasonable material selection, optimized structural design and precise production process, the needs of displaying aesthetics and protective functions can be met at the same time. In the future, with the development of new materials and the advancement of manufacturing technology, the performance of blister packaging will be further improved, providing better packaging solutions for electronic products.
