Montmorillonite@chitosan-poly (ethylene oxide) nanofibrous membrane enhancing poly (vinyl alcohol-co-ethylene) composite film

Abstract A montmorillonite@chitosan-poly (ethylene oxide) nanofibrous membrane (MMT@CPF) enhancing poly (vinyl alcohol-co-ethylene) (EVOH-MMT@CPF) composite film was developed by using a space-filling embedding method. The structure of EVOH-MMT@CPF was characterized, and the thermal stability, mechanical and barrier properties of the films were investigated. The CPF was fabricated via electrospinning technique and the self-assembly of MMT nano-platelets on CPF was achieved by the driving of electrostatic interactions between MMT nano-platelet and CPF. The experimental results indicated that the well-kept MMT@CPF after embedding in the EVOH matrix significantly improved the thermal stability and mechanical properties of the film, and also endowed the film with outstanding oxygen barrier (0.2 × 10 −16  cm 3  cm cm −2  s −1  Pa −1 ) and good moisture barrier (4.6 × 10 −6  g m m −2  s −1  atm −1 under a relative humidity of 90%) by prolonging the tortuous paths for molecule penetration. The composite film may have a great potential application in food packaging.