Abstract
One of the most promising applications of poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) is food packaging. The problem is that poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA), especially plasticized one, has a poorer gas barrier property than ordinary food packaging polymers. The improvement of the water-vapor barrier property is therefore required. In this study, low temperature plasma treatment on a plasticized PLLA film in the presence of hexafluorobenzene was carried out in order to improve its water-vapor barrier property. The flux of water-vapor permeation through the plasticized PLLA and some other food packaging polymer films was measured at 298K. The flux of water-vapor permeation through the plasticized PLLA showed the highest value among all the polymer films tested. The flux of water-vapor permeation through a plasticized PLLA film treated with low temperature plasma in the presence of hexafluorobenzene was decreased to 60% of an untreated plasticized PLLA. Effects of plasma treatment parameters on the water-vapor permeability were investigated.
