High oxygen barrier property of polyethylene composite films with bilayer polyvinyl alcohol coating for emergency foods in high‐humidity environments

Abstract The limited oxygen barrier of polyethylene (PE) films has restricted their further application in food packaging, like emergency foods. Although its oxygen barrier property can be improved by applying a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) coating, the application of PVA/PE composite films in high‐humidity environments is still challenging. Hence, this study aimed to enhance the oxygen barrier properties of PVA/PE composite films in high‐humidity environments. Specifically, PVA coatings were modified by the itaconic acid (IA) and magnesium‐aluminum layered double hydroxides (LDH), and then applied to PE films as bilayer coating. Because of the unique bilayer coating on the PE surface, the oxygen barrier property of PVA/PE composite film (IA/LDH‐p) in high‐humidity environments has been further improved. The results confirmed that IA/LDH‐p had an oxygen permeability coefficient of 1.92 ± 0.16 × 10 −16 cm 3 cm/(cm 2 s Pa) under a high‐humidity environment test, 82.42% better than that of single‐layer coating coated on PE surface. After being stored at RH 90% for 36 h, the tensile strength and elongation at break values of IA/LDH‐p were 27.20 MPa and 919.63%, respectively. Overall, this obtained PVA/PE composite films showed great potential for application in emergency foods packaging, particularly in high‐humidity environments.