High Moisture Barrier with Synergistic Combination of SiOx and Polyelectrolyte Nanolayers. Issue 16 (3rd June 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Qin, Shuang; Xiang, Sisi; Eberle, Bailey; Xie, Kelvin; Grunlan, Jaime C.
• Is Part Of: Advanced materials interfaces. Volume 6:Issue 16(2019)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2019-06-03
• Subjects: layer‐by‐layer assembly -- moisture barrier -- polyelectrolyte complex -- SiOx; Materials science -- Periodicals; 620.11
• DOI: 10.1002/admi.201900740
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2196-7350

Abstract

Abstract: The lifespan of most organic electronics, and many types of food, depend on the oxygen and moisture barrier of the packaging materials. Despite exhibiting excellent oxygen barrier and being relatively easy to produce, polyelectrolyte multilayer nanocoatings (PEM) show limited moisture barrier. SiO x thin films can exhibit good moisture barrier, but rigidity that leads to cracking is a challenge for flexible packaging. In this work, layer‐by‐layer assembled PEM coatings are paired with inorganic SiO x to form a three‐layer sandwich‐type moisture barrier. The barrier property of this organic/inorganic/organic structure is an order of magnitude better than any individual component or other combination thereof. This behavior is attributed to the underlying PEM layer smoothing the substrate surface and the top PEM layer eliminating defects in the underlying SiO x . This study provides a new twist in the development of flexible films with exceptional moisture barrier. Abstract : The layer‐by‐layer assembled polyelectrolyte multilayer nanocoatings are, for the first time, utilized to improve the quality of an inorganic SiO x layer. The moisture barrier of a three‐layered structure is almost 10× better than any individual layers. This optimized structure, with a unique combination of deposition techniques, provides a new strategy to produce flexible and transparent high moisture barrier coatings.