Gas barrier properties evaluation for boron nitride nanosheets-polymer (polyethylene-terephthalate) composites
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Gas barrier properties evaluation for boron nitride nanosheets‑polymer (polyethylene‑terephthalate) composites Atif Ayub1 · Sarah Farrukh1 · Rahim Jan1 · Muhammad Azeem1 · Zarrar Salahuddin1 · Arshad Hussain1 Received: 4 July 2020 / Accepted: 19 September 2020 © King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology 2020
Abstract Hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets (BNNS) are dispersed in polyethylene-terephthalate (PET) via temperature-induced solution processing. The BNNS/PET composites are evaluated for carbon dioxide (CO2) and oxygen (O2) permeation reduction. The free-standing composite membranes have shown a maximum 96% permeation reduction at very minute filler loading (0.005 wt% BNNS) in comparison to the base polymer when subjected to an 8 h test run. Interestingly, BNNS loading beyond 0.005 wt% rendered complete permeation reduction. The inclusion of high aspect ratio BNNS, homogeneous dispersion inside PET and the wiggling effect around nanosheets per flake have increased the tortuous path for the gas flow. The experimental results have been verified through Bharadwaj’s, Neilson’s, Lape’s and Cussler’s models. The dispersion state is assessed via scanning electron microscope (SEM) while x-ray diffraction (XRD) has confirmed the formation of composites. Tensile testing results showed the enhanced mechanical robustness of BNNS/PET composites as a function of filler loading. Keywords Polymer composites · 2D nanosheets · PET · Gas barrier properties · Liquid phase exfoliation
Introduction Recently, polyethylene-terephthalate (PET) utilization has seen an upward trend in the packaging industry, especially in the carbonated beverages sector. PET has substituted traditional materials like metals (aluminum cans) and glass bottles due to its cost-effectiveness, easier processing, lightweight and robustness. Rex Whinfield and Dickson (1949) of England claimed of a synthetic polymer invention, PET, with valuable but unusual properties that could be used for making textile fibers and filaments. After the first PET bottle patent (Wyeth and Roseveare 1973), plastics production surged for the next 50 years from 15 million tons in 1964 to 311 million tons in 2014. It is expected to double again over the next 20 years, where plastic packaging represents 26% of the total volume of plastic used (WorldEconomicForum, World Economic 2016). A noticeable limitation with PET bottles is their finite gas permeability characteristics (Boutroy 2006; Kazminova, et al. 2013; Nakaya et al. 2015), * Rahim Jan [email protected] 1
School of Chemical and Materials Engineering (SCME), National University of Sciences and Technology, H‑12, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
since packaged beverages with low gas and vapor permeation rates have longer shelf-life (Bhunia et al. 2016; Beeva, et al. 2015). O2 barrier properties of PET are not sufficient enough to give a satisfactory shelf life unless kept at refrigeration temperatures. Likewise, CO2 levels in carbonated beverages drop with time as a result of permeation thro
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