Author Information
∗ Corresponding authors. Phone: +86-10-64412131. Fax: +86-10-64425385.
E-mail: hanjb@mail.buct.edu.cn.
Abstract: Stretchable gas barrier films hold great application
potentials in flexible
electronics, sensors and food/drug packaging. Inorganic-organic hybrid
films containing two-dimensional nanosheets have shown good gas barrier
performance, but moderate tensile property, because of the rigid
characteristics of covalent or ionic bonds between the assembly units.
In this work, we used LDH nanosheets rich in hydroxyl groups as building
units, followed by modification of tannic acid (TA), to assemble with
polyethylene oxide (PEO) through hydrogen bonds. Compared with previous
work, the tensile property and oxygen barrier performance of
(TA@LDH/PEO)n films have been significantly
improved. A fifty-bilayer TA@LDH/PEO film (865 nm thick), deposited on a
1 mm thick natural rubber substrate, results in a 29× reduction
(contrast with bare substrate) in oxygen transmission rate and maintains
its good barrier property even under a large elongation of 120%. The
excellent tensile and gas barrier properties are attributed to the
ductility of hydrogen bond network among building blocks and the
significant prolongation of oxygen transmission path induced by LDH
nanosheets. This work provides a simple and cost-effective strategy for
the preparation of nanosheets-based hybrid materials, which are useful
in those fields requiring simultaneously high gas barrier and good
flexibility.
KEYWORDS: films, membrane materials, two-dimensional
nanosheets, gas barrier,
hydrogen bonds assembly