Crosslinkable‐Chitosan‐Enabled Moisture‐Resistant Multilayer Gas Barrier Thin Film
Abstract
Chitosan‐based films exhibit good oxygen barrier that degrades when exposed to high humidity. In an effort to overcome this drawback, a multilayer nanocoating consisting of crosslinkable chitosan (CHQ) and poly(acrylic acid) [PAA] is deposited on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) using layer‐by‐layer assembly. Chitosan is functionalized with glycidyl methacrylate to introduce acrylic functionalities within the film. The deposited films are crosslinked using a free radical initiator and this crosslinking is confirmed by FTIR and reduced film thickness. A 10‐bilayer (BL) crosslinked CHQ/PAA film, which is only 165 nm thick, results in a 36× reduction of the oxygen transmission rate of PET at 90% relative humidity. To achieve these same results without crosslinking, a 15‐BL unmodified chitosan (CH)/PAA film, which is almost 5× thicker, must be deposited on PET. This environmentally friendly, transparent nanocoating is promising for food packaging or protection of flexible electronics, especially in high‐humidity environments.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jan 30, 2019
- Source ID
- 10.1002/marc.201800853
Entities
People
- Emily Kennedy
- Jaime C. Grunlan
- Michael Cunningham
- Omar Garcia‐valdez
- Pascale Champagne
- Simone Lazar
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
- Queen's University
- Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry