The Influence of Moisture Content on the Polymer Structure of Polyvinyl
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J. Coat. Technol. Res. DOI 10.1007/s11998-017-9937-2 The influence of moisture content on the polymer structure of polyvinyl alcohol in dispersion barrier coatings and its effect on the mass transport of oxygen A˚ sa Nyflo¨ tt, C¸ag˘lar Meric¸er, Matteo Minelli, Ellen Moons, Lars Ja¨rnstro¨ m, Magnus Lestelius, Marco Giacinti Baschetti Ó The Author(s) 2017. This article is an open access publication Abstract This paper presents a study of the effect of Keywords Mass transport, Permeability, Modeling, moisture on the gas permeability of polyvinyl alcohol Barrier coating, Moisture, Kaolin, PVOH (PVOH) and PVOH–kaolin dispersion barrier coat- ings. The oxygen permeability was measured at differ- ent humidity levels, and the material properties were Introduction characterized under the same conditions: polymer crystallinity, kaolin concentration, and kaolin orienta- Gas barriers are often employed to hinder the perme- tion were all evaluated. The experimental results ation of molecules through a material. In order to revealed that the water plasticizes the PVOH material achieve the desired performance of the barrier, it is of the coatings, and the presence of kaolin filler is important to understand the mechanism of mass trans- unable to affect such behavior significantly. The port of the relevant species through the material.1,2 PVOH crystallinity was affected drastically by the Filled polymer layers can be used as barrier coatings in humidity, as water melts polymer crystallites, which is a the packaging industry. In this end-use application, it is reversible process under removal of water. The per- important to be able to regulate the mass transport of, meability data were analyzed using a thermodynamic- e.g., moisture, grease, and gases. Among the others, based model able to account for the water effect on oxygen may be detrimental to the quality of packaged both the solubility of the gas and the diffusivity food, especially if the food contains lipids.3–5 Although coefficients in the polymer and composite. The results the environmental conditions may affect the barrier showed good agreement between the model’s predic- performances over time, these should be withstood for tions and the experimental data in terms of the overall the entire shelf life of the packaged product. It is permeability of the material. essential that the material properties, and all factors affecting gas permeability, are well understood for the development of novel efficient barrier materials and the ˚ & proper design of the existing ones. A. Nyflo¨ tt ( ), L. Ja¨rnstro¨ m, M. Lestelius Polymeric barrier materials are typically filled by Department of Engineering and Chemical Sciences, impermeable inorganic fillers to improve their barrier Karlstad University, 651 88 Karlstad, Sweden 6,7 e-mail: asa.nyfl[email protected] performance. Polymer-based composite materials can be prepared by dispersion, interlamellar polymer- A˚ . Nyflo¨ tt ization, or melting to provide not only enhanced Stora Enso, Karlstad Research Centre, 650 09 Karlstad, barrier properties, but also better mechanical behavior Sweden and thermal stability.8,9 However, significant research efforts are still being devoted to the development of C¸ . Meric¸er, M. Minelli, M. G. Baschetti materials that can improve the performance and Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental and stability of the composite.10,11 Materials Engineering, Alma Mater Studiorum, University The performance of the oxygen barrier depends on of Bologna, 40131 Bologna, Italy the nature of polymer and fillers used, as well as on 12,13 E. Moons processing conditions. For example, the suspen- Department of Engineering and Physics, Karlstad sions used in dispersion coatings are usually water University, 651 88 Karlstad, Sweden soluble, which makes them sensitive to moisture. J. Coat. Technol. Res. Therefore, the qualitative and quantitative evaluation and the diffusional pathways for the penetrating of the effect of the different processing parameters and molecules may be significantly enhanced. environmental conditions on coating properties and The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of performances is of paramount importance in obtaining moisture on the barrier properties of PVOH and a clear view of their performance and suitability for PVOH–kaolin composites, namely filler dispersion, industrial development. barrier structure, and barrier performance. The per- The permeation of gas through a barrier coating is meability was measured at different RH in the range of affected by polymer properties, such as chain mobility, 0–80%. The barrier structure was affected by humidity crystallinity, and free volume cavities.14 In the case of and kaolin concentrations. A model was also built to filled polymeric layers, the tortuous permeation path- describe the behavior of the materials by combining ways within the polymer are affected by the volume different models that are able to account indepen- fraction and distribution (shape, size, and concentra- dently for the effect of gas solubility, filler dispersion, tion) of the filler. Among the materials available in the polymer crystallinity, and humidity on the barrier field of dispersion coatings, polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) properties of the composite material. is one of the most important; indeed, it has often been investigated alone or together with different fillers as to its suitability as a composite barrier layer.7,15 PVOH has good film-forming properties and is a great O2 Materials and methods barrier, but has the drawback of being significantly water sensitive. The addition of clay can improve the Materials barrier properties under humid conditions: the tortu- ous pathways introduced to the water molecules lower The barrier layer used in this study was made from interaction with the polymer phase. PVOH (Mowiol 15-99 from Kuraray, Frankfurt, Ger- Recently, Nyflo¨ tt et al.16 developed a modeling many) and kaolin (IMERYS, Sandersville, USA). The approach able to describe the gas solubility and kaolin particles were received pretreated with sodium diffusivity in polymer bases systems, and also to polyacrylate (NaPAA). The size distribution of the account simultaneously for the tortuosity effect pro- kaolin platelets had previously been determined to be duced by the addition of layered fillers. The penetrant in the range 0.1–5 lm (width and length)52; according solubility is evaluated making use of an equation of to the supplier, the completely separated platelets had state (EoS) based model, which represents a well- a width-/length-thickness ratio of 60 (corresponding to established effective method for calculating the solu- an aspect ratio 16, according to the definition adopted bility of gases and vapors in amorphous polymer melts in this work: surface area of the plane divided by or rubbers. The nonequilibrium behavior of amor- surface area of side surface). PET sheets (23-lm thick) phous polymers has to be accounted for using the purchased from HiFi Industrial Films (Hertfordshire, nonequilibrium thermodynamic model for glassy poly- UK) served as the coating substrate; their even mers (NET-GP),17,18 which provides the required thickness and high adhesion strength to the PVOH 53 extension of the EoS approach below Tg. The model coating made them very suitable for this purpose. uses the lattice fluid EoS model by Sanchez and Lacombe19 in combination with the NET-GP ap- proach, giving rise to the so-called nonequilibrium Preparation of PVOH, kaolin dispersions and lattice fluid (NELF) model.17 The NELF model is able coatings to represent the solubility of gases and vapors in amorphous glassy polymers; the lattice fluid model is PVOH was dissolved in deionized water at 95°C under combined with the simple transport model, as done gentle stirring for 1.5 h and then cooled to room previously by others.20–27 temperature before film preparation or being mixed The diffusivity of the penetrants has to be analyzed with kaolin. The kaolin clay was dispersed in deionized too and described by an appropriate transport model. water by high-shear mixing to a concentration of 60 The diffusional behavior of the penetrant in the wt%. Once this process was complete, the dispersion polymer matrix is related to the penetrant size and was stirred at a lower speed for 30 min before being the diffusion sites available. Semicrystalline polymers diluted to the concentrations required to receive the force the penetrant to take a tortuous path around the target concentration in the dry state. Finally, the pH often impermeable crystalline regions, which affects was adjusted to 6.8. Aqueous suspensions, based on both diffusivity and solubility. PVOH and water solutions of kaolin, were prepared Tortuous paths produced by platelet-like fillers, e.g., and coated onto the PET films according to the clay, have been studied extensively by many groups by procedure described below.54 analytical solutions with a simplified geometry, numer- The dispersion was drawn down on the PET sheets ical calculations based on ordered or random structures with a bench rod coater (K202 Control Coater, RK or molecular simulations.6,28–51 The addition of filler Print Coat Instruments Ltd., Royston, UK) and sub- can enhance the barrier function of polymer films since sequently dried at 95°C in a heating chamber until the it introduces regions that are impermeable to gases, barrier coatings contained only 5% water. The barrier J. Coat. Technol. Res. coating reached temperatures of approximately 70°C it to pure water vapor at the correct pressure. Then a during drying, as measured by an IR temperature gas stream at the same RH was fed to the upstream sensor (Thermopoint TPT 62, FLIR system AB, side of the film, and the pressure downstream was Danderyd, Sweden). The water content in the barrier monitored, as in dry experiments. More information on during drying was measured with a contactless NIR the two experimental setups, as well as the measuring moisture sensor (FIBRO MCA 1410, FIBRO System techniques, can be found elsewhere.55,56 AB, Ha¨gersten, Sweden).