Improvement of water vapor permeability of LLDPE/EVA film with zeolite A as filler

Abstract

In this work, water vapor permeability of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE)/ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) film is improved by incorporation of zeolite A as filler (0-25%wt) for prolonging shelf-life of fresh produces. All films were characterized by SEM, DSC, tensile testing, contact angle measurement and tested for water vapor permeability (WVP). The shelf-life of Bird's eye chili in the film samples was also tested at 10°C for 21 days. It was found that zeolite A particles were virtually dispersed in EVA phase. Accordingly, crystallinity and tensile properties of LLDPE/EVA/Zeolite A films is independent to zeolite loading. Despite, when zeolite loading was increased, the dispersion became low. The film's wetting behavior was enhanced by increasing zeolite content in the LLDPE/EVA/Zeolite A films. The observed increase in the film's polarity significantly enhances the WVP. Therefore, less water condensed can be found inside the package made with LL80E20Ze25 film, as compared to LLDPE or LLDPE/EVA film. The LL80E20Ze25 also possesses comparable tensile properties to the commercial LLDPE film and hence can used as packaging for extending the shelf-life of fresh produces.