Innovative enhancement of gas barrier properties of biodegradable poly(butylene succinate) nanocomposite films by introducing confined crystals†
Abstract
In this work, we creatively obtain high gas barrier poly(butylene succinate) (PBS)/clay nanocomposite films by introducing confined crystals taking advantage of the spatial confinement effect which commonly exists in polymer/nanofiller systems. It is found that when the content of clay exceeds a certain amount, the clay can induce some confined crystals around it under the action of the spatial confinement effect. These confined crystals and clay would reconstitute into a kind of new “barrier wall” with a higher aspect ratio and preferable regularity. As a result, the loss of gas barrier ability caused by crystallinity reduction of PBS and exfoliation degree reduction of clays is effectively compensated. This study provides a new potential approach to improve the gas barrier properties of polymers.