Rubber-like and biodegradable poly (vinyl alcohol) composites with triple networks for high-efficiency solvent barrier

To meet the sustainable development goals, developing soft materials with rubber-like elasticity, superior solvent barrier property, and biodegradability are highly desired for chemical protective coatings. Herein, biodegradable poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA)-based elastomers with excellent solvent barrier property and high elasticity are fabricated by using a water-soluble polyamide-amine-epichlorohydrin (PAE) resin as a green crosslinker for the carboxyl modified PVA (PVA-C) matrix. It is found that PAE can crosslink the carboxyl PVA chains effectively to form a chemically crosslinked network and the slight crystallization of carboxyl PVA contributes to the physical crosslinking network. Moreover, the high loading of kaolinite filler constitutes the filler networks. Benefiting from the collaborative triple networks, as-prepared PVA composites demonstrated excellent elastomer behavior, showing a full recovery to their original state even after 103 times of stretching-releasing. Furthermore, its application as a chemical protective glove demonstrated the highly efficient barrier against various chemical solvents permeation accordant with the highest level-6 of EN374 standard, and its degradation rate is over 20% after a 120-days natural soil burial test.

Automated summary

In this study, biodegradable PVA-based elastomers with excellent solvent barrier property and high elasticity were fabricated. The water-soluble resin PAE was used as a crosslinker to effectively crosslink carboxyl PVA chains. The collaborative triple networks in the prepared PVA composites contribute to their excellent elastomer behavior. Furthermore, these materials demonstrated highly efficient barrier performance against chemical solvents permeation as chemical protective gloves, and showed a high degradation rate.