Mechanical, rheological and oxygen barrier properties of ethylene vinyl acetate/diamond nanocomposites for packaging applications

In this work, the effects of the surface-modified nanodiamond particles (NDs) on the barrier, rheological, mechanical and thermal properties of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) composites for the packaging applications were investigated. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, as well as thermal gravimetric analysis were employed to study the grafting of vinyltriethoxy silane (VTS) on the surface of NDs. Afterwards, EVA samples containing 0, 0.1, 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 wt% of surface-modified NDs were prepared by a two-stage process including the solution and injection processes. In order to evaluate the physicochemical, rheological, mechanical and thermal properties of the EVA/NDs samples, field emission scanning electron microscopy, contact angel measurement, rheometric mechanical spectroscopy, tensile test, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analysis were employed. The result showed a more uniform dispersion of modified NDs in the EVA matrix. Also, the oxygen permeability rate of EVA films in the presence of NDs was reduced remarkably. Furthermore, the mechanical characteristic and thermal stability of the EVA matrix were enhanced significantly in the presence of the modified NDs and the EVA/NDs nanocomposite films have this capability to use for the packaging applications.