Oxygen barrier,free volume,and blending properties of polyamide 12/poly (vinyl alcohol) blends

Oxygen permeation rates, average volumes of free‐volume‐cavities (V_f), and fractional free volumes (F_v) of polyamide 12 (PA12)/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) (ie, PA12_xPVA⁰⁵_y, PA12_xPVA⁰⁸_y, and PA12_xPVA¹⁴_y) blend films with varying PVA degrees of polymerization reduced to a minimum value when their PVA contents reached a corresponding optimal value, respectively. The minimum oxygen permeation rates, V_f, and F_v values obtained for the optimal PA12_xPVA^z_y blown films were reduced considerably with decreasing PVA degrees of polymerization. Experimental findings from dynamic mechanical analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, wide angle X‐ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy of the PA12_xPVA^z_y blend series suggest that PA12 and PVA in PA12_xPVA^z_y are miscible to some extent at the molecular level when their PVA contents are near and less than the corresponding critical values. The considerably enhanced oxygen barrier properties of the PA12_xPVA^z_y blend films with optimized compositions are attributed to the significantly reduced local free volume characteristics.