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High Moisture Barrier with Synergistic Combination of SiO x and Polyelectrolyte Nanolayers
Author(s) -
Qin Shuang,
Xiang Sisi,
Eberle Bailey,
Xie Kelvin,
Grunlan Jaime C.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
advanced materials interfaces
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.671
H-Index - 65
ISSN - 2196-7350
DOI - 10.1002/admi.201900740
Subject(s) - materials science , moisture , barrier layer , layer (electronics) , polyelectrolyte , chemical engineering , composite material , substrate (aquarium) , nanotechnology , polymer , oceanography , engineering , geology
The lifespan of most organic electronics, and many types of food, depend on the oxygen and moisture barrier of the packaging materials. Despite exhibiting excellent oxygen barrier and being relatively easy to produce, polyelectrolyte multilayer nanocoatings (PEM) show limited moisture barrier. SiO x thin films can exhibit good moisture barrier, but rigidity that leads to cracking is a challenge for flexible packaging. In this work, layer‐by‐layer assembled PEM coatings are paired with inorganic SiO x to form a three‐layer sandwich‐type moisture barrier. The barrier property of this organic/inorganic/organic structure is an order of magnitude better than any individual component or other combination thereof. This behavior is attributed to the underlying PEM layer smoothing the substrate surface and the top PEM layer eliminating defects in the underlying SiO x . This study provides a new twist in the development of flexible films with exceptional moisture barrier.