Barrier resistance of polyethylene, polyethylene/modified polyamide, and polyethylene/blends of modified polyamide and ethylene vinyl alcohol bottles against permeation of polar and nonpolar mixed solvents

Abstract

AbstractThe main objective of this study is to investigate the barrier properties and mechanisms of polyethylene (PE), PE/modified polyamide (MPA), and PE/blends of MPA and ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer (MPAEVOH) bottles against permeation of polar/nonpolar (acetone/white spirit) mixed solvents. The mixed solvent permeation resistance improves dramatically after blending MPA and MPAEVOH barrier resins in PE matrices during blow molding. By using the proper MPAEVOH compositions, the white spirit permeation rate of PE/MPAEVOH bottles at 40°C can be about 145 times slower than that of the PE bottle specimen; however, it is still 2.5 times faster than that of the PE/MPA bottles. In contrast, the rate of polar acetone solvent permeation through the PE bottle is much slower than that of white spirit and only slightly faster than that through the PE/MPA and PE/MPAEVOH bottle specimens. In contrast, the permeation rates of acetone/white spirit mixed solvents into PE/MPA bottles are at least 20–60 times faster than the summation permeation rates calculated using the simple mixing rule when the acetone contents in the mixed solvents are between 10 and 70 wt %. It is somewhat interesting that, after blending the proper amounts of EVOH in MPA, the mixed solvent permeation rates of PE/MPAEVOH bottles are dramatically reduced and are very close to the summation permeation rates calculated using the simple mixing rule when the acetone contents are in the particular “window” range. These interesting barrier properties of PE/MPA and PE/MPAEVOH bottle specimens were investigated in terms of the free volumes, barrier properties, molecular interactions in the amorphous phases of the barrier resins, and their resulting morphological structures that present in their corresponding bottles. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 97: 1333–1344, 2005