Oxygen barrier property of synthesized polyacrylate coatings containing inter-chain cross-linking architecture on PET film

A series of coatings which applied for improving the oxygen barrier property of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film were prepared based on the copolymerization of methyl methacrylate, methyl acrylate, diallyl maleate, and maleic acid (MA). The chemical structures of the coatings were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared spectrometer. The curing behavior was analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry. The oxygen permeability (Po 2 ) was measured by gas permeability tester . The molecular weight was investigated by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). Po 2 is inversely proportional to the oxygen barrier property that the decrease of Po 2 indicates the improvement of oxygen barrier property. The coating containing inter-chain cross-linking structure formed by the dehydration of carboxylic acid improves the oxygen barrier property of PET film greatly. With the increasing content of MA, the oxygen barrier capability of coated PET film is enhanced according to the Po 2 decreasing from 1.450 to 0.8956. The Po 2 of coated PET film is minimized by selecting N -methyl pyrrolidone as solvent for polymerization. The GPC results indicate that the oxygen barrier of novel coated PET film can be obtained when the weight average molecular weight ( Mw ) is up to the stipulated value.