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Effect of chlorine dioxide gas on physical, thermal, mechanical, and barrier properties of polymeric packaging materials
Author(s) -
Rubino Maria,
Netramai Siriyupa,
Auras Rafael,
Annous Bassam A.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.31244
Subject(s) - crystallinity , materials science , ethylene , vinyl chloride , polyolefin , polymer chemistry , ultimate tensile strength , polyethylene , polymer , vinyl alcohol , polyethylene terephthalate , ethylene vinyl acetate , polyvinyl chloride , polystyrene , vinyl acetate , chemical engineering , composite material , chemistry , organic chemistry , copolymer , layer (electronics) , engineering , catalysis
The effects of gaseous chlorine dioxide (ClO 2 ) on properties and performance of 10 selected polymeric packaging materials, including polyethylene (PE), biaxially oriented poly(propylene), polystyrene, poly(vinyl chloride), poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), poly(lactic acid), nylon, and a multilayer structure of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA)/ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH), were evaluated. Physical, mechanical, barrier, and color properties as well as infrared (IR) spectra were assessed before and after polymer samples were exposed to 3600 ppmV ClO 2 gas at 23°C for 24, 168, and 336 h. The IR spectra of the ClO 2 ‐treated samples revealed many changes in their chemical characteristics, such as the formation of polar groups in the polyolefin, changes in functional groups, main chain scission degradation, and possible chlorination of several materials. The ClO 2 ‐treated PE samples showed a decrease in tensile properties compared with the untreated (control) films. Decreases in moisture, oxygen, and/or carbon dioxide barrier properties were observed in the treated PE, PET, and multilayer EVA/EVOH/EVA samples. A significant increase ( P < 0.05) in the barrier to O 2 was observed in the ClO 2 ‐treated nylon, possibly the result of molecular reordering, which was found through an increase in the crystallinity of the material. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010