Nanocomposites Research for Combat Ration Packaging

Nanocomposites of ethylene co-vinyl alcohol (EVOH) and montmorillonite layered silicates (MLS) were processed by extrusion methods to produce cast and blown films. Wide angle x-ray diffraction and transmission electron spectroscopy (TEM) showed that all the films had an intercalated morphology. TEM photographs of the cast films displayed random alignment of the nanoparticles while the blown films showed an ordered alignment of the nanoparticles. The samples were equilibrated at various humidities and the mechanical and barrier properties were evaluated. The blown film nanocomposites had better Young's modulus values, at higher humidity, than the cast film nanocomposites. The oxygen and moisture barrier properties improved the most in the cast nanocomposite films. The EVOH nanocomposite cast film had 57% improvement in oxygen barrier properties at 0% relative humidity in comparison to the pure EVOH cast film.
See also ADM001736, Proceedings of the Army Science Conference (24th) held in Orlando, FL on 29 Nov-2 Dec 2004. The original document contains color images.