2022 Volume 26 Issue 3-4 Pages 47-52
In this study, the He gas permeability of films made of natural smectite and butenediol vinyl alcohol copolymers, which are polymers with high gas barrier properties, was measured in a wide range of compositions from 100% natural smectite to 100% polymer between 40°C and 160°C. The gas permeation behavior was discussed in terms of activation energy. Since butenediol vinyl alcohol copolymers form intra/intermolecular hydrogen bond networks, it was found that the activation energy of gas permeation is reduced by the addition of clay, which may be due to the suppression of the mobility of polymer molecules by clay. Moreover, the gas barrier deterioration was more suppressed with high temperature than with the polymer alone. The calculated gas permeability of the 25-µm coating layer at 160°C was less than 10 mL m−2 day−1 bar−1 in the polymer range of 10–40 wt%, indicating excellent gas barrier properties even at high temperatures.
