Waterborne film forming and crystalline poly(thiother) films for barrier coatings

Abstract

[EN] The use of (Polyvinylidene chloride) PVDC in food packaging is very widespread due to its outstanding barrier properties. Nevertheless, the environmental concern regarding the release of chloride has promoted the research of more sustainable alternatives. The use of thiol-ene chemistry seemed to be an interesting alternative to achieve the objective. In this work, glycol dimercaptoacetate (GDMA) and diallyl terephthalate (DATP) monomers were used to synthesize poly(thioether)s with the final purpose of obtaining self-supportive consistent films for barrier properties. Therefore, the reactivity of GDMA and DATP and the effect of different parameters on the molecular weight, polydispersity index and conversion were analysed in bulk photopolymerization in order to optimize the synthesis process. The premature polymerization worsened the reproducibility of the reactions so, therefore, 2,5-di-tert-butylhydroquinone (DBHQ) was used to control it. Afterwards, miniemulsion photopolymerization were carried out to obtain latexes to cast and obtain the aimed films. There, different formulations of GDMA:DBHQ were tried to analyse its possible effects on the mechanical properties and the depolymerization process.