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pps proceeding
Symposium: G16 - Morphology and structural development
Oral Presentation
 
 

STUDY OF BULK AND CONFINED CRYSTALLIZATION OF ETHYLENE-VINYL ALCOHOL

Freymond Clément (1)*

(1) CNAM - Paris - France

Ethylene-vinyl alcohol (EVOH) copolymer is commonly combined in the food packaging industry with polyolefins because it offers very good barrier properties to gas and organic solvents. These properties come from the crystalline phase (degree of crystallinity and morphology) depending on copolymer composition and crystallization conditions [1]. It is well known that confining a polymer at the nanoscale modifies crystallization habit, possibly leading to a great variety of crystalline morphologies exhibiting unique preferential orientations [2]. The aim of this study is to investigate EVOH bulk crystallization phenomenon and its modification when confining the polymer in nanoscale space. After having investigated the bulk crystallization of EVOH, two techniques have been used to confine the polymer: the classical spin coating [3] and the forced-assembly coextrusion [4]. Both techniques can induce spatial confinement in a different way. In the first technique, the film is spin-coated on a substrate, while in the second, EVOH is coextruded with another polymer chosen to impose hard confinement. Different techniques (AFM, X-ray diffraction) have been used to characterize the crystalline morphology in the bulk and lamellas orientation in thin layers. The effect of the layer thickness, the crystallization temperature, and the interface has been investigated. Acknowledgment This research was supported by FUI NOXY II project. References [1] A. Alvarez, K. Kenny, et V. Vazquez, « Isothermal, J. Appl. Polym. Sci., vol. 89, 2003. [2] R. E. Prud’homme, Prog. Polym. Sci., vol. 54 55, p. 214 231, mars 2016. [3] O. K. Muratoǧlu, A. S. Argon, et R. E. Cohen, Polymer, vol. 36, no 11, p. 2143 2152, janv. 1995. [4] J. M. Carr, D. S. Langhe, M. T. Ponting, A. Hiltner, et E. Baer, J. Mater. Res., vol. 27, no 10, p. 1326 1350, mai 2012.