Functional Barrier Performance of a Polyamide-6 Membrane Towards n -Alkanes and 1-Alcohols

Abstract

Polymeric barrier membranes are widely used in the food packaging area. So‐called functional barriers prevent the packed food from contamination of permeants from the environment or from other packaging components. Aim of the study was to determine barrier properties of non‐polar n‐alkanes (n‐pentane up to n‐tetradecane) and polar 1‐alcohols (1‐propanol to 1‐octanol) of a 12 µm biaxially oriented PA6 film at temperatures between 70°C and 100°C. From the experimentally determined lag times, the diffusion coefficients DP as well as the partition coefficients K of the investigated permeants were calculated. From the correlation between the molecular volume V and the diffusion coefficients DP, the lag times for lower temperatures can be predicted for temperatures between 20°C and 70°C. In conclusion, the investigated 12 µm PA6 film is a sufficient barrier towards organic compounds. The permeation of substances with molecular volumes above 200 Å3 is negligible for a shelf life of three years and temperatures below of 60°C. These storage conditions are sufficient for nearly all kinds of food packaging applications. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Recyclable Multilayer Packaging by Means of Thermoreversibly Crosslinking Adhesive in the Context of Food Law

“…The experimentally determined D P values for the applied 38 substances are given in Tables S7–S11 and are shown in Figure 9 , where it can be seen that the tested substances show correlations between their molecular volume ( V ) and their diffusion coefficients D P . Similar correlation has been found in previous studies on the same method [ 25 , 26 , 27 ]. The applied substances followed the Arrhenius relationship (Equation 2) from which the activation energies of diffusion were derived for 15 of the 38 applied substances.…”

“…Calibration was performed with injections of known amounts of the applied permeants. The diffusion coefficients ( D P ) were determined according to the lag time method [ 25 , 26 , 27 ] (Equation (1)) and the activation energies of diffusion ( E A ) were calculated from the D P at various temperatures according to the Arrhenius Equation (Equation (2)). …”

Diffusion Coefficients of n-Alkanes and 1-Alcohols in Polyethylene Naphthalate (PEN)

“…The homologous row of polar 1-alcohols follows a similar correlation as for the nonpolar n-alkanes ( Figure 2). The diffusion coefficient for a substance at a certain temperature is therefore mainly a function of its molecular volume V. This is in good agreement with previous studies on films of the same thickness on oriented PA6 [11] and PET [10,12]. The dashed lines in Figure 2 are correlations for both n-alkanes and 1-alcohols at the given temperature.…”

Development and evaluation of organic vapour permeation system for packaging applications

“…The permeated amounts could be predicted before the lag time has not been reached, thereby, being able to evaluate the functional barriers. The barrier properties of polyamide‐6 (PA6) films were studied using the same method …”

“…The barrier properties of polyamide-6 (PA6) films were studied using the same method. 12 Auras, Harte, and Selke 13 performed an isothermal sorption experiment coupled with gravimetric analysis to compare the permeability of ethyl acetate and d-limonene for PLA with PET, polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP), and LDPE, previously reported. For ethyl acetate, it was found that the lowest and highest permeability were observed in PET and LDPE, respectively.…”