Facile preparation of UV-cured polymer sealants encapsulated graphene nanofillers and evaluation of their water vapor permeability

Background: Due to the outstanding properties of graphene, researchers are considering it a good candidate for thin film encapsulation on polymer substrates. In this work, we produce a UV-cured resin prepared by an inexpensive solution technique for the encapsulation of graphene oxide (GO), mechanical exfoliation graphene (mG), reduced graphene oxide (rGO), graphite, and SiO₂ nanofillers on the surface of a PET film for employment as an impermeable film. Methods: The water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) is measured for the UV-cured encapsulated nanofillers on PET films. Results: The WVTR was reduced to <10⁻² g m⁻²/day for GO and rGO nanofillers with a thickness of 1 mm. Pencil scratch hardness tests performed on the encapsulated nanofillers deposited on the PET film showed them to be stable up to 5H–8H and the glass transition temperature results for the GO, mG, and rGO nanofillers on PET remained steady up to 180°C. Conclusions: The prepared UV-cured resin encapsulated graphene nanofillers coated on the polymer substrate by a simple solution method was shown to have good impermeability to water vapor.