Combined High Stretchability and Gas Barrier in Hydrogen-Bonded Multilayer Nanobrick Wall Thin Films

Hydrogen-bonded multilayer thin films are very stretchable, but their gas barrier properties are modest compared to more traditional ionically bonded assemblies. In an effort to improve the gas barrier of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)–poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) multilayer films without sacrificing stretchability, montmorillonite (MMT) clay platelets were combined with PAA and alternately deposited with PEO. A ten-bilayer PEO/PAA+MMT film (432 nm thick), deposited on a 1 mm PU substrate, resulted in a 54× reduction in oxygen transmission rate after exposure to a 20% strain. This system is the best combination of stretchability and gas barrier ever reported.