(643b) In-Product Anti-Counterfeiting Using Phase Change Nanoparticles

There is an urgent need is to develop in-product covert barcode for agrochemical anti-counterfeiting. This paper describes a new nanoparticles-based in-product barcode system, in which a panel of phase change nanoparticles with discrete and sharp melting peaks is added as a barcode into in a variety of agrochemicals. Environmentally degradable organic solids are used to make nanoparticles. The barcode can be readout by detecting melting peaks of nanoparticles using differential scanning calorimetry. This method has high labeling capacity due to small sizes of nanoparticles, sharp melting peaks, and large scan range of thermal analysis. The in-product barcode can be effectively used to protect agrochemical products from being counterfeited due to its large coding capacity, technical readiness, covertness, and robustness.