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Super Hydrogen and Helium Barrier with Polyelectolyte Nanobrick Wall Thin Film
Author(s) -
Tzeng Ping,
Lugo Elva L.,
Mai Garret D.,
Wilhite Benjamin A.,
Grunlan Jaime C.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
macromolecular rapid communications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.348
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1521-3927
pISSN - 1022-1336
DOI - 10.1002/marc.201400559
Subject(s) - materials science , polyolefin , polystyrene , coating , polymer , hydrogen , copolymer , acrylic acid , polyethylenimine , composite material , polyester , helium , thin film , polymer chemistry , chemical engineering , layer (electronics) , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , chemistry , transfection , biochemistry , engineering , gene
In an effort to impart light gas (i.e., H 2 and He) barrier to polymer substrates, thin films of polyethylenimine (PEI), poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), and montmorrilonite (MMT) clay are deposited via layer‐by‐layer (LbL) assembly. A five “quadlayer” (122 nm) coating deposited on 51 μm polystyrene is shown to lower both hydrogen and helium permeability three orders of magnitude against bare polystyrene, demonstrating better performance than thick‐laminated ethylene vinyl‐alcohol (EVOH) copolymer film and even metallized polyolefin/polyester film. These excellent barrier properties are attributed to a “nanobrick wall” structure. This highly flexible coating represents the first demonstration of an LbL deposited film with low hydrogen and helium permeability and is an ideal candidate for several packaging and protection applications.