Chan Han

Natural and synthetic clay-filled coatings for insulation barrier applications

Abstract Hybrid organic/inorganic coatings provide effective barriers to gas transmission and therefore find utility in a variety of application areas, including surface treatment of foams for thermal insulation purposes. Blends of aqueous latexes with select smectite clays are particularly attractive, in that the efficient formation of layered interconnecting networks occurs upon drying. The plate-like structure of clays enables this behavior at relatively low volumetric content of inorganic material. A variety of both natural and synthetically derived high purity clays are evaluated for their ability to form low permeability films, with effects of loading, aspect ratio, and refinement technique described.