Effect of nanoclay orientation on oxygen barrier properties of LbL nanocomposite coated films

Layer by layer (LbL) film deposition is an efficient technique used to produce thin coatings with high gas barrier properties. In this study, multilayer composite coatings with hydrogen bonding inter-layer interactions were deposited by LbL on a PET substrate, with an alternate deposition of a nanoclay layer and different intercalating polymers layers, namely chitosan (CS), polyethylene oxide (PEO), polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The investigated coatings had two different structures, quadlayers and bilayers which are different in the number of layers in the repetitive unit (four and two respectively). The alignment of nanoclay platelets and the extent of their intercalation were studied using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results showed that the dispersion level and the orientation of nanoclay particles depend considerably on the molecular structure of intercalating polymers and their interactions with nanoclay. An oxygen permeability model, specific to high filler loading composites, was then developed by considering only the aspect ratio and the volume fraction of the nanoparticles.