PVA Layer Research Articles

Experimental evidence and calculation of the penetration depth of acyl chloride reagent and molecular expansion in a dense layer of PVA coated on a paperboard after chromatogeny grafting

Experimental evidence and calculation of the penetration depth of acyl chloride reagent and molecular expansion in a dense layer of PVA coated on a paperboard after chromatogeny grafting

Anti-bacterial PVA@Ag/PVDF NF membrane made by filtration-coating plus in-situ reduction of NPs for dye removal

In this study, a filtration-coating method was developed to create a PVA layer on a PVDF membrane, and then silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were introduced by in-situ reduction to form an antibacterial PVA@Ag/PVDF NF membrane. The relationship between the rejection of dye by the membrane, the morphology of the coated PVA layer and its coating process parameters, such as polymer concentration, crosslinking ratio, vacuum pressure, and time, was investigated. The filtration-coating method facilitated the infiltration of PVA molecules into the porous channel of PVDF membrane, thus improved the stability of coated PVA. Meanwhile, it was observed that high vacuum pressure (1 bar), high polymer concentration (2%), and short filtration time (5 min) have a similar effect to low polymer concentration (1%) and long filtration time (10 min), which results in the formation of a dense layer structure (2–5 μm) on the membrane surface and leads to a high rejection rate but low flux. While filtration at low vacuum pressure (0.1 bar) leads to a thin PVA layer (<0.2μm), and PVA turns to appear on the entrance and surface of pore channel of membrane. The coated membrane showed a stable performance during 72 hrs filtration. Furthermore, Ag NPs were incorporated into PVA layer by the in-situ reduction method, the obtained membrane showed an enhanced dye rejection (92% for methyl blue), and a low salt rejection (NaCl 18%) and moderate flux (17.2 L·m−2·h−1 at 1 bar). Moreover, the composite membrane demonstrated excellent antibacterial properties (Staphylococcus aureus and E. coli). Overall, this work may present a novel approach to prepare new NF membrane.

Aerosol jet printed temperature sensors using an environmentally friendly bilayer dielectric

With the rise of the internet of things and applications such as smart packaging, the need for low cost, disposable temperature sensors with minimum environmental impact are critical. In this study, we report fully printed capacitive temperature sensors made from bio-degradable dielectric materials. All layers were aerosol jet printed and the areal capacitance was characterized at several temperatures between room temperature (22 ˚C) and 80 °C. Using a bilayer dielectric structure, a layer of poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) was encapsulated with polycaprolactone (PCL) through interfacial crosslinking to protect it against humidity. Various concentrations and layer amounts of PVA were investigated, with the most effective capacitors consisting of a single layer of PVA deposited from a 5.0 mg ml−1 solution followed by a layer of the UV-crosslink-able PCL deposited from 2.0 mg ml−1 solution, achieving a 43 ± 6% increase in areal capacitance at 80 °C when compared to room temperature, measured at a frequency of 501 Hz.

A high-performance, biocompatible, and fully biodegradable piezo-triboelectric hybrid nanogenerator based on PVA/Glycine/PVA heterostructured piezoelectric film

The emergence of biodegradable nanogenerators (BD-NGs) has provided a promising and safe approach for the development of biotransient medical electronics. However, the rapid advancement of these devices faces a major challenge due to the low output performance of BD-NGs. To address this issue, we develop a high-performance and fully biodegradable piezo-triboelectric hybrid nanogenerator (FB-HNG) for the first time. The FB-HNG is based on a sandwich-like heterostructured piezoelectric film composed of PVA/Gy/PVA. By utilizing an electric field-assisted water evaporation method to modulate the crystal process, a PVA/Gy/PVA film with enhanced piezoelectric properties (maximum d33 of 9 pC/N) is prepared. The surface of PVA layer is designed to rub against a PLGA film, forming the triboelectric part, while the inner Gy bulk layer provides impressive piezoelectric output. Through the coupled effects of triboelectric and piezoelectric mechanisms, a maximum output voltage and current of 94 V and 2.3 μA are achieved, respectively. Notably, the current density of 1.53 μA/cm2 and charge density of 6.53 nC/cm2 of the FB-HNG are the highest among reported BD-NGs. Furthermore, the FB-HNG also presents excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability both in vitro and in vivo, which highlights its potential and prospects as a power source for transient medical devices.

Development of composite ceramic/polymeric hollow fibre membrane for water separation at low pressure and ambient temperature

This study proposed an enhanced water purification separation that was carried out at ambient temperature and low-pressure system. ZnO and PVA layers were deposited on the outer surface of Al2O3 hollow fibre membrane, and this composite membrane was used to separate synthetic salt solutions with a concentration of 40,000 ppm. The salt solution was introduced on the outer surface of PVA–ZnO–Al2O3 hollow fibre membrane, and distilled water was flowed through the lumen as draw solution. The PVA–ZnO–Al2O3 hollow fibre membrane showed a water flux of 25.70 kg m2 h−1 with 93.9 % NaCl rejection. Al2O3 hollow fibre used in this work possessed asymmetric structure with permeability of 11.6 mD and was identified as a medium that cause a significant pressure drop within the separation system. A considerable pressure drop occurred in the porous region of the ceramic hollow fibre, causing water to vaporise. This phenomenon resulted in water evaporation at the interface between the dense sponge-like region of Al2O3 hollow fibre and PVA–ZnO membrane, thus created a positive flux for enhanced salt separation.

Novel core-shell microcapsules incorporating macro/micronutrients in PVA/starch matrix

Enhanced efficiency fertilizers (EEFs) have been widely used due to their ability to meet crop nutritional needs and reduce the main problem of leaching. In this work, we compared the effects of spray-dryer microspheres and microcapsules on nutrient encapsulation and identified the spheres and core-shell structures by fluorescence microscopy using Rhodamine B (RB) as the fluorescent material. The microsphere matrix was based on starch, and the microcapsules consisted of starch as the core and poly (vinyl alcohol) as the shell. The fluorescent images confirmed that the RB was incorporated into the starch, as the overlap of fluorescence and brightfield images covered the entire area for microspheres and only the core for microcapsules. Microspheres exhibited an irregular and non-spherical morphology, whereas microcapsules presented a spherical shape with a smooth and homogeneous surface featuring small aggregated particles. The microparticle structures remained unchanged even after incorporating KNO3, Fe, Cu, and Mn. Thermal analysis indicated lower initial mass loss temperatures for the microcapsules, suggesting polymer interactions during drying and formation. FTIR further supported this, which revealed structural changes and partial oxidation during drying, contributing to reduced thermodegradation. Notably, micronutrient-based microcapsules demonstrated a significantly lower burst release than macro/micronutrient-based microcapsules and micronutrient-based microspheres. Fe and Cu were released most rapidly from microspheres in the first hour, reaching 84.2% and 79.4%, respectively. In contrast, macro/micronutrient-based microcapsules released 66.1% and 67.7%, while micronutrient-based microcapsules released 53.1% and 61.5%. As for Mn, macro/micronutrient-based microcapsules exhibited the highest initial release at 72.4%, followed by micronutrient-based microcapsules at 62.2%, with microspheres releasing at 55.8%. Additionally, the Peppas-Sahlin model provided the best fit, indicating diffusional and polymer relaxation contributions. The morphology, release, and kinetics behaviors confirmed that the core-shell prolonged the nutrient release by reducing the initial burst release, thanks to the diffusion barrier provided by the PVA layer.

An Ultralow‐Cost, Durable, Flexible Substrate for Ultrabroadband Surface‐Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

Flexible devices have recently seen notable advancements for use in various areas. Surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has emerged as a transformative technology in this space. However, practical applications of flexible SERS substrates are often restricted to labs, hindered by challenges such as inconsistent reproducibility, limited scalability (&lt;10 mm2), short lifespan (&lt;1 day), narrowband response (&lt;100 nm), and especially high costs (&gt;10 dollars mm−2). Addressing these barriers, an ultralow‐cost (≈10 cents mm−2), highly durable, flexible substrate that boasts exceptional SERS performance is studied. This highly scalable, adhesive, ultrathin nanomesh, crafted from a 3D network of silver‐deposited PVA nanofibers, ensures a high density of hotspots and consistent measurements (&lt;20% CV). Its protective PVA layer keeps the silver unoxidized for sustained usage (&gt;1 month). Remarkably versatile, this substrate works across a range of excitation laser wavelengths in both the visible and near‐infrared regions, including 488, 532, 633, and 785 nm. Furthermore, the substrate has shown its efficacy in analyzing residual pesticides on fruits for food safety testing and human biofluids (sweat and urine) for health monitoring. This innovation paves the way for transitioning SERS applications from labs to industrial settings.

Large-scale preparation of UV photo-crosslinked composite membrane with high pervaporation desalination properties and excellent fouling resistance

In this study, we developed a high-performance composite membrane with rapid cross-linking and large-scale technology for PV desalination. Some strategies were adopted to achieve this purpose. First, photo cross-linking was used to shorten the cross-linking time of PVA within 60 s. Second, a PTFE microfiltration membrane was utilized as the substrate that mitigated the transport resistance of the supporting layer. Third, an large-scale spray-coating device was built-up which completed the amplification preparation of composite PV membrane. Finally, ZIF-8 nano-particle was introduced into the PVA layer that increased the free volume and amorphous region of PVA, enhancing the water flux of membrane. When desalted a 3.5 wt% NaCl solution at 80 °C, a water flux of 307.58 ± 15.09 kg/m2·h was achieved for the PVA/ZIF-8/PTFE composite membrane. To better reflect the membrane performance, the permeance of PVA/ZIF-8/PTFE membrane was also calculated, which was reached to 674.37 kg/m2 h bar, exceeding 18.4% than the highest reported property of PVA/PAN nanofiber membrane (569.55 kg/m2 h bar). In addition, the composite membrane showed stable water flux and salt rejection when treating highly concentrated brine solution containing organic pollutant. When desalinated a 10 wt% NaCl solution with 1 wt% HA at 80 °C, the PVA/ZIF-8/PTFE membrane produced water with low conductivity of 15.78 μs/cm and a high water flux of 129.95 kg/m2·h in a period of 180 min.

All-in-one sandwich-like PVA/PEDOT:PSS/WPU electrodes with low impedance and high stretchability for ECG monitoring

Conductive hydrogels have attracted considerable attention due to the promising application of flexible bioelectrodes. However, these hydrogel flexible electrodes are prone to damage or aging and readily influenced by external conditions like temperature, pressure and humidity, making them difficult in correcting accuracy real-time signals. Hence, we proposes to prepare all-in-one sandwich-like PVA/PEDOT:PSS/WPU electrodes with low impedance and high stretchability. Inspired by the layered structure of human skin, We fabricated ECG electrodes with high mechanical properties and low contact impedance by succsessively coating PEDOT:PSS conductive layer and PVA adhesive layer on WPU aerogel, in which the WPU aerogels can provide good elasticity on one hand and effectively promote the integration of PEDOT:PSS on the other hand. Furthermore, the outside layer of PVA gives good biocompatibility and comfort feel to the human skin, leading to a significant reduction of skin-electrode impedance. The PVA/PEDOT:PSS/WPU electrodes change resistance by only 45 % at 30 % strain, its conductivity reaches 7.8S/m, the fracture strain is 300 %. The as-prepared electrodes can accurately monitor subtle physical movements when wearing on the human-body, such as vocal cord vibrations, while continuously, consistently and clearly collecting ECG signals. Therefore, multifunctional integrated hydrogels can show promising applications in ECG biosensors.

Plasmon- and Waveguide-Coupled Fluorescence at the Ultraviolet Region.

Surface plasmon-coupled emission (SPCE) has been well studied for its coupled, directional, and enhanced P-polarized radiation due to the interactions of fluorophores with surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) on thin metal films. Such surface plasmon polariton-assisted directional fluorescence has various applications in biosensing. Herein, we demonstrate 2-aminopurine (2AP, a UV-absorbing and -emitting fluorophore) emission coupling to modes in aluminum-based plasmon-coupled waveguides (Al-PCWs). Directional emission from 2-aminopurine on plasmon-coupled waveguides was observed at specific angles as P-polarized SPCE and/or as P- or S-polarized waveguide-coupled emission (WGCE). All S-polarized waveguide modes showed clear angularly resolved emission as compared to that of P-polarized surface plasmon-coupled emission or P-polarized waveguide-coupled emission. The coupling angles, efficiencies, and polarizations of the modes were sensitive to the optical properties and overall dimensions of the top dielectric layer in PCWs. The effective plasmon-coupled waveguide can consist of either a thin probe-containing layer on top of the undoped silica film, or a single dielectric PVA layer with probes distributed throughout the film on the Al layer. The former structures with probes confined to the top of the undoped silica layer showed much higher angular resolutions and coupling efficiencies, as well as mode-dependent changes in lifetimes. These results demonstrate that the plasmon and waveguide modes can be used for selective detection of surface-bound and bulk fluorophores, simultaneously.

Design and assembly of chain-oriented-crystalline multilayered composite with largely improved mechanical strength

Design and assembly of organic/inorganic multilayered composite consisting of alternatively stacking of stiff inorganic platelets and soft organic polymers have great potential for developing next-generation lightweight high-strength materials. Beyond previous designs about the improvement of inorganic nanoplatelet alignment and inter-platelet bonding, a new design concept of control over the physical aggregation state of organic polymer chains within the multilayered structure for mechanical reinforcement is proposed. Based on a typical assembly system of nanoclay platelets and poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA), a facile three-step process of gelation, uniaxial pre-stretching and evaporation is developed to construct chain-oriented-crystalline multilayered composite, in which the aggregation state of PVA including chain orientation (from 0.020 to 0.897), crystallinity (from 42.8 to 45.9%) and crystallite orientation (from 0.007 to 0.937%) is regulated successfully. These structural changes bring a 4.1-fold increase in the tensile strength of the multilayered composite because of substantial improvement in the strength of PVA layer that enlarges stress transfer from PVA to nanoclay platelets and leads to a failure mode change from the pull-out of nanoclay1 platelets to their fracture. These findings open an avenue for fabricating lightweight high-strength nanocomposites based on inorganic nanoplatelets and crystalline polymers.

A Study on the Wide Frequency Range Electrical Variables in the Al/Coumarin–PVA/p-Si Diodes at Room Temperature

Coumarin-PVA is deposited onto p-Si wafers using the spin coating technique. I examined the fundamental electrical variables of the Al/CoumarinPVA/p-Si type Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs), by utilizing capacitance/voltage(C-V) and conductance/voltage (G-V) measurements at different frequencies varied from 10kHz to1MHz. I have thoroughly explored how the CoumarinPVA interlayer, series resistance (Rs) and surface states (Nss) affect the electrical properties of SBDs. In order to remove Rs's influence on the observed C and G values, I corrected them. The observed high values of C/G measured at low frequencies result from the existence of interfacial states. There is evidence that while NA decreases exponentially with increasing frequency, B increases exponentially. A particular distribution of Nss density, polarization processes, and the existence of an interfacial layer can all contribute to explaining these characteristic features of them. According to experimental findings, I conclude that the interfacial polymer CoumarinPVA layer as well as the Nss and Rs also have a significant impact on the C/G-V quantities of SBDs.

Formulation and evaluation of sustained releasedomperidone hydrochloride transdermal patches to treat motion sickness

Objective: Transdermal route of drug delivery is superior than oral route because it avoids first pass effect, ensures better patient compliance, reduce dosing frequency especially in extended-release formulation and is easy to use. Domperidone HCl is DA2 receptor antagonistic and is used to prevent nausea and vomiting. The objective was to formulate a domperidone HCl extended-release transdermal drug delivery system to treat motion sickness. Methods: Five different formulations were formed using different solvents (methanol and dichloromethane) and polymers (HPMC and Eudragitl-100) by solvent evaporation method. 500mg of domperidone HCl was added in each patch and dibutyl phthalate was added as plasticizer. A 3% w/v PVA layer was used as backing. All these formulations were evaluated for their physicochemical properties (weight variation, thickness, folding endurance and tensile strength), in-vitro drug release, drug contents determination, any incompatibility between drug and excipients by FTIR and DSC and skin irritation. Results: All formulations exhibited good physicochemical properties and percentage drug release during 24 hours was 79.3%, 97.1%, 96.8%, 74.7% and 59.7% respectively. F-YM showed maximum in-vitro drug release. The optimized formulation (F-YM) followed Korsmeyer Peppas release model with n=0.383 showing that the system was following dissolution dependent drug release. No interaction between drug and excipients was detected by DSC and FTIR. No skin irritation was detected. Conclusion: The extended release transdermal patches of domperidone HCl to treat motion sickness were prepared and formulation F-YM showed optimized behavior with maximum in vitro drug release.

Engineering a protective surface layer to resist membrane scaling and scale-induced wetting in membrane distillation for the treatment of hypersaline wastewater

Membrane distillation (MD) is a promising technology in hypersaline wastewater treatment, while its performances such as permeate flux and quality are still hindered by inorganic scaling/wetting. Enhancing surface hydrophobicity is often regarded as the unique way to fabricate anti-scaling MD membranes. However, the weak capability in resisting the scale intrusion (i.e., scale-induced wetting process) and commonly complicated fabrication processes restrain the practical application of this strategy. Herein, we report a facile method for engineering the membrane with a protective surface layer to simultaneously resist membrane scaling and scale-induced wetting during MD. Results showed that the coating of a PVA layer significantly mitigated membrane scaling and prohibited the occurrence of scale-induced wetting during the MD scaling tests. Specifically, the engineered PVDF/PVA-GA Janus membrane (JM) achieved a higher water recovery rate (80 %) with less flux decline (11.6 %) compared with that of the pristine PVDF membrane (9 % and 86.7 %), implying the great potential of the JMs for the near-ZLD treatment of hypersaline wastewater. Morphological characterization and salt diffusion tests demonstrate that the salt rejection capability and dense structure of the surface layer are primary factors preventing scale crystals from intruding into the membrane matrix (anti-scale-induced-wetting effect). Besides, the PVA-GA surface layer, possessing a high energy barrier for gypsum nucleation and low adhesion to gypsum crystals, effectively mitigated membrane scaling (anti-scaling effect). Using polyelectrolytes as additives to increase the inner charge of the PVA layer further improved the salt rejection of JMs. In addition, the JMs exhibited comprehensively anti-organic fouling/wetting capabilities (e.g., surfactants and oils) and long-term stability (∼87 h) during the near-ZLD treatment of hypersaline wastewater.

Cerebrospinal Fluid-philic and Biocompatibility-Enhanced Soft Cranial Window for Long-Term In Vivo Brain Imaging.

Soft, transparent poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS)-based cranial windows in animal models have created many opportunities to investigate brain functions with multiple in vivo imaging modalities. However, due to the hydrophobic nature of PDMS, the wettability by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is poor, which may cause air bubble trapping beneath the window during implantation surgery, and favorable heterogeneous bubble nucleation at the interface between hydrophobic PDMS and CSF. This may result in excessive growth of the entrapped bubble under the soft cranial window. Herein, to yield biocompatibility-enhanced, trapped bubble-minimized, and soft cranial windows, this report introduces a CSF-philic PDMS window coated with hydroxyl-enriched poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) for long-term in vivo imaging. The PVA-coated PDMS (PVA/PDMS) film exhibits a low contact angle θACA (33.7 ± 1.9°) with artificial CSF solution and maintains sustained CSF-philicity. The presence of the PVA layer achieves air bubble-free implantation of the soft cranial window, as well as induces the formation of a thin wetting film that shows anti-biofouling performance through abundant water molecules on the surface, leading to long-term optical clarity. In vivo studies on the mice cortex verify that the soft and CSF-philic features of the PVA/PDMS film provide minimal damage to neuronal tissues and attenuate immune response. These advantages of the PVA/PDMS window are strongly correlated with the enhancement of cortical hemodynamic changes and the local field potential recorded through the PVA/PDMS film, respectively. This collection of results demonstrates the potential for future microfluidic platforms for minimally invasive CSF extraction utilizing a CSF-philic fluidic passage.

Water-Soluble Reactive Polymer Blends for Stable Memory Layers in Low-Voltage Nonvolatile Organic Memory Transistors with High Mobility and Data-Retention Characteristics.

Here low-voltage nonvolatile organic memory transistors, featuring high charge-carrier mobility and outstanding data-retention characteristics, by employing water-soluble reactive polymer blends as a gate-insulating memory layer are demonstrated. Blend films of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and poly(2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid) (PAMPSA) (PVA:PAMPSA) are prepared from their aqueous solutions with various molar ratios of PAMPSA (0-18mol%) and thermally annealed at 70 and 110°C. Organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) are fabricated by depositing poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) channel layers on the thermally treated PVA:PAMPSA films. Results show that the hole mobility of OFETs is remarkably increased (≈294 times at 70°C and ≈42 times at 110°C) by adding only 2mol% PAMPSA to the PVA films and further improved at 10mol% PAMPSA (>11.7cm2 V-1 s-1 at 70°C and >3.8cm2 V-1 s-1 at 110°C). The hysteresis characteristics are rather strengthened for the PVA:PAMPSA layers by annealing at 110°C due to the formation of cross-linking sites, even though the OFETs with the pristine PVA layers do almost lose hysteresis characteristics at 110°C. The optimized OFETs with the PVA:PAMPSA layers (10mol%, 110°C) deliver excellent data retention characteristics during >10000 memory cycles at a voltage range of -5 to +5V.

Liposome-integrated seawater reverse osmosis membrane prepared via facile spray-assisted interfacial polymerization

In this work, we demonstrated the effectiveness of using spray-assisted interfacial polymerization (IP) technique in fabricating liposome-integrated thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes for seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO). The liposome loading within the selective polyamide (PA) layer of the TFN membrane can be precisely controlled by manipulating spraying conditions to eliminate the wastage of precious additives compared to the conventional blending method. Spraying the liposomes after applying the aqueous phase of M-phenylenediamine (MPD) could prevent the loss and disruption of liposome distribution over the substrate layer. Upon incorporating 4 mg/m2 of liposomes, the best-performing S4-a membrane is able to achieve 27% higher water permeability than the liposome-free membrane, demonstrating a permeability of 3.24 L/m2·h·bar along with 99.3% NaCl rejection for seawater desalination. Characterization showed that dynamic liposomes had affected the IP process by creating a larger miscible reaction zone for IP, which led to the formation of a rougher PA surface with more nanovoids in the ultra-thin selective layer, thus, contributing to higher effective surface area and less hydraulic resistance for improving water permeability. An additional PVA layer was coated atop the liposome-integrated membrane to effectively improve the membrane stability and fouling resistance, leading to a comparable level of salt rejection with the state-of-the-art commercial membranes in treating real seawater, while water permeability was enhanced by 26–185%. This work presents a readily scalable spray-assisted IP technique to fabricate liposome-integrated SWRO membrane for seawater desalination.

Spray-coated tough thin film composite membrane for pervaporation desalination

Water flux of pervaporation (PV) desalination membranes can be increased by reducing thickness of the selective layer and/or reducing the resistance of the support layer. However, low resistant support layer typically has large surface pores that requires a thick selective layer to avoid fracture. To solve this problem, we used poly(acrylic acid-co-2-acrylamido-2-methyl propane sulfonic acid) (P(AA-AMPS)) to crosslink PVA to improve the mechanical property of the coating layer. The PVA layer was deposited on to a highly porous PTFE substrate via spray-coating. By optimizing the spray-coating conditions, a thin and defect-free P(AA-AMPS) crosslinked PVA/PTFE composite membrane with a selective layer thickness of 1.1 μm was prepared. The water flux of the composite membrane reached to 256.6 ± 31.3 kg/(m2 h) at 75 °C with a NaCl rejection rate over 99.9% when desalinating a 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution. The membrane flux is higher than all reported PV desalination membranes.

A Novel Strategy to Prepare Anti-Fouling Pva Layer on Hydrophobic Membrane by Vapor Opposite Transmission Process

A Novel Strategy to Prepare Anti-Fouling Pva Layer on Hydrophobic Membrane by Vapor Opposite Transmission Process

Antimicrobial PLA-PVA multilayer films containing phenolic compounds

Multilayer materials with good interlayer-adhesion were obtained by thermocompression for laminating an internal poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) layer with two external poly (lactic acid) (PLA) layers. Carvacrol or ferulic acid were incorporated into the PVA sheet to obtain active materials. The multilayer films were characterised as to their microstructure, thermal behaviour, tensile and barrier properties. Furthermore, the antimicrobial capacity of the materials was analysed in packaged beef meat samples for 17 days at 5 °C. The laminates exhibited tensile properties close to those of the PLA films, but with enhanced stretchability. Compared to the monolayers, the barrier capacity of multilayers was much improved by combining polyester and PVA layers, which provide the laminate with water vapour and oxygen barrier capacity, respectively. Active multilayers were effective at controlling microbial growth in beef meat during cold storage. Therefore, the materials developed were functionally adequate for food packaging purposes and successfully promoted the meat preservation.