Oxygen permeability of regenerated cellulose films with different water regains

Akari Okugawa; Yoshiaki Yuguchi; Daichi Hayakawa; Fumiya Ueno; Koji Hatai; Chihiro Yamane

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2023.120849

Oxygen permeability of regenerated cellulose films with different water regains

Carbohydr Polym. 2023 Aug 1:313:120849. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2023.120849. Epub 2023 Mar 29.

Authors

Akari Okugawa¹, Yoshiaki Yuguchi¹, Daichi Hayakawa², Fumiya Ueno³, Koji Hatai³, Chihiro Yamane⁴

Affiliations

¹ Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka Electro-Communication University, 18-8 Hatsu-cho, Neyagawa, Osaka 572-8530, Japan.
² School of Pharmacy, Showa University, 1-5-8 Hatanodai, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 142-8555, Japan.
³ Omikenshi Co., Ltd., 4-1-1, Minami-honmachi Chuo-ku, Osaka 541-8541, Japan.
⁴ Faculty of Home Economics, Kobe Women's University, 2-1 Aoyama, Higashisuma Suma-ku, Kobe 654-8585, Japan. Electronic address: yamane@suma.kobe-wu.ac.jp.

PMID: 37182949
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2023.120849

Abstract

The effect of water regain on the oxygen permeability coefficient (OP) of regenerated cellulose film was investigated. The OP of the dry film was extremely low, which was classified as a "very high" performance gas barrier; however, the OP increased with increasing water regain, and reached to the OP similar to that of low-density polyethylene film, which was categorized as a "poor" gas barrier. The film thickness increased with increasing water regain, and edge-view small-angle X-ray scattering revealed widening of the space between microcrystals in the thickness direction. Oxygen molecules likely passed through the space between cellulose molecules, which was widened with increasing water regain. The viscoelastic measurements indicated that regenerated cellulose existed in a rubbery state under wet conditions. Overall, the OP of regenerated cellulose was increased because of the widening and micro-Brownian motion of cellulose main chains caused by water.

Keywords: Oxygen permeability; Regenerated cellulose; Small- and wide-angle X-ray diffraction; Viscoelastic behavior; Water regain.