Grunlan Group Work on Stretchable Gas Barrier Featured on Cover of Macromolecular Rapid Communications

Boundaries are being pushed with layer-bylayer (LbL) technology every day, and the present work has demonstrated the first stretchable gas barrier prepared with this technology. The cover image depicts an American football helmet, representing an oxygen molecule, failing to break through a transparent, stretchable film. On a molecular level, this LbL thin film (≈125-nm thick) uses hydrogen bonding between layers to introduce a bond slipping ability that results in macro-scale stretchiness. This stretchable barrier is important for applications requiring pressurized elastomer materials (e.g., bladders and air bags).