Nano-Coatings: A New Approach to Sustainable Packaging

Plastic waste is a growing problem, with more than 400 million tonnes produced each year and over one third of them from single-use packaging. Alternatives like paper, recyclable materials, and refillable containers exist, but each comes with its own trade-offs.

Ontario-based startup, Nfinite Nanotechnology, is taking a different approach. Founded by Dr. Kevin Musselman and two of his former master’s students, the company is developing ultra-thin nano-coatings that block water vapor and oxygen, helping preserve products like food, detergents, and cosmetics while remaining fully compostable and recyclable. Their coatings are about 1,000 times thinner than a human hair and can break down naturally without compromising performance.

“You might think a chip bag is just flimsy plastic, but it’s actually made of upwards of nine layers. The shiny metal layer you see keeps air out but together these layers aren’t compostable or recyclable,” explains Dr. Musselman. “The alternative like compostable or paper packaging doesn’t block vapor well, so air seeps in and spoils the product. Our job is to create a vapor barrier coating that replaces the metal layer—making it both compostable and recyclable,” he adds.

How Nfinite Got Started

Nfinite began at Dr. Musselman’s Functional Nanomaterials Lab at the University of Waterloo, where his graduate students Chee Hau Teoh and Jhi Yong Loke were developing coating technology for applications ranging from batteries to antiviral fabrics.

As the research advanced, the team secured funding through multiple commercialization programs. With many potential uses for their coating, they needed to focus their efforts. Through incubator programs, Chee and Jhi interviewed hundreds of industry stakeholders and tested the technology in real-world conditions. This process revealed a major opportunity: the need for better sustainable packaging.

From Lab to Market

Today, Nfinite Nanotechnology has grown to a 20-person team based in Waterloo. Over the past three years, the company has collaborated with global leaders in consumer goods—including PepsiCo, Unilever, Amcor, and Mitsubishi Corporation—to test and integrate their coatings into real-world packaging systems. These collaborations focus on measuring water vapor and oxygen transmission rates — critical benchmarks for meeting industry standards in product preservation.

Scaling up brought new challenges. As Dr. Musselman explains, industrial partners require coatings produced at massive scales —kilometers of material that can be transformed into flexible packaging. What began as small lab samples evolved into rolls, with production now moving toward even larger manufacturing runs.

With support from Mitacs, NSERC, and the University of Waterloo, Nfinite is improving coating performance, optimizing manufacturing processes, and moving closer to full-scale commercialization.

“As a startup that requires all sorts of advanced tools to create these coatings, it is near impossible to get this type of funding, so a collaborative project like the one we are doing with Mitacs and NSERC is fundamental in giving us access to all sorts of equipment and facilities that we never thought we could use. These collaborations between industry and academia are critical for deep tech industries like us to get these products out of the research lab,” Dr. Musselman concludes.

Mitacs’s programs receive funding from multiple partners across Canada. We thank the Government of Canada, the Government of Alberta, the Government of British Columbia, Research Manitoba, the Government of New Brunswick, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Government of Nova Scotia, the Government of Ontario, Innovation PEI, the Government of Quebec, the Government of Saskatchewan, and the Government of Yukon for supporting us to empower Canadian innovation. 

Do you have a business challenge that could benefit from a research solution? If so, contact Mitacs today to discuss partnership opportunities: [email protected].