Nano-based Ink Technology against Counterfeiting and Tampering

Lead  Prof. LI Pei

Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology

Traditional printing onto food packaging is vulnerable to tampering and it has been a major consumer concern. Prof. Li Pei and her team have developed a new tamperproof ink formulation to address this long-standing industry challenge.

The ink has been patented and gained international recognition, including the 2013 Best Innovation Award from China’s Enterprise in Code and Marking Industry and a Gold Medal at the 2015 World Invention Innovation Contest.

Through collaboration with industry, this breakthrough indelible ink has delivered significant benefits to the economy, industry and food safety. Commercialised successfully, it is adopted to print around 30 billion food and drink packages annually. In 2018, the annual sales revenue reached RMB150million. Three top dairy companies, which combined sales account for approximately 14% of China’s fast‑moving consumer goods industry have adopted this technology in printing their product information.

The market expansion has opened up new business opportunities and led to job creations for ink‑related business. Building on this success, Prof. Li and the team continue their work to develop advanced ink formulations for different industrial needs. Notably, a modified version of the ink with high resistance to rubbing has been adopted by 23% of China’s cable and wire industry.

RAE 2020 Impact Case Study