JP2005131862A - Laminated transparent gas barrier film - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance lamination strength without damaging the transparency of an inorganic vapor deposition product. <P>SOLUTION: This laminated transparent gas barrier film is a film wherein an anchor layer and a barrier layer are provided at least on one side of a plastic base material. The anchor layer comprises a metal oxide/nitride and the barrier layer comprises a membrane of a metal oxide. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention is a film having excellent gas barrier properties and high laminate strength when laminated with other films, for food packaging such as snack foods, rice confectionery, dry articles, cereals, etc. The present invention relates to a barrier film suitable for a material packaging, a protective film for solar cells and the like.

  As a gas barrier packaging material and package, a laminate of various plastics is used. For example, an OPP (stretched polypropylene) film and a PE (polyethylene) film, or a PET (polyester) film and a CPP (unstretched polypropylene) film laminated. Also, various packagings such as bags, cups, trays, etc., using packaging materials in which aluminum is vapor-deposited on PET film or laminated with PE or CPP film coated with vinylidene chloride or ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer. Made and used. Recently, products using thin films such as silicon oxide and aluminum oxide as barrier films have also been proposed.

  Such conventional packaging materials and packages have the following problems. Aluminum foil or aluminum vapor deposition is excellent in gas barrier properties but is opaque and has a drawback that the contents during packaging cannot be seen. Further, when aluminum is included in the dry food packaging material and a part of the package, there is a problem that the plastic film cannot be collected and reused (recycled).

  A product containing vinylidene chloride or ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer in a part of the structure of the dry food packaging material and the package has insufficient gas barrier properties such as water vapor and oxygen, and the storage period of the contents is short. In addition, vinylidene chloride is easily pyrolyzed and difficult to recycle, and there are concerns about the impact on the global environment such as generation of chlorine gas during incineration. In addition, although ethylene vinyl alcohol is excellent in gas barrier properties during drying, the oxygen barrier property is significantly lowered under high humidity, and the storage period is shortened. Moreover, the gas barrier film of transparent vapor deposition does not have high adhesiveness to the base material, and often causes problems such as peeling when laminated with other materials.

The thing which plasma-processed to the base film surface and improved the adhesiveness of an inorganic vapor deposition layer and a base film is proposed (for example, refer patent document 1).
Japanese Patent Publication No. 2001-322201

  However, this method only discusses the strength of the laminate only during drying, and the effect of improvement is not clear for the strength of the laminate when the inorganic oxide is particularly weak.

On the other hand, it has been proposed to provide a metal layer on a base film to improve the laminar strength (for example, see Patent Document 2).
Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-200700

  However, since this method is premised on metal vapor deposition for those provided with a metal film, there is a concern that the transparency is lowered and the transparency characteristic of the inorganic vapor deposition film is remarkably lowered.

  The present invention has been made against the background of the problems of the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to improve the strength of the laminate without impairing the transparency characteristic of the inorganic vapor-deposited product.

  That is, the present invention is a film in which an anchor layer and a barrier layer are provided on at least one surface of a plastic substrate, the anchor layer is made of a metal oxide / nitride, and the barrier layer is a metal oxide thin film A transparent gas barrier film provided with a gas barrier layer comprising:

  In this case, it is preferable that the metal forming the anchor layer is formed of one or more of titanium, aluminum, and silicon, and the anchor layer is formed by sputtering.

  In this case, it is preferable that the inorganic barrier layer is made of at least one of aluminum and silicon or a mixed oxide, and the inorganic barrier layer has a thickness of 5 to 50 nm.

  A film as a substrate is made of an organic material, hardly reacts chemically with the inorganic barrier layer, and it is difficult to obtain adhesive properties such as a laminate strength. However, the sputtering method has higher energy of particles to be deposited than the vapor deposition method, and migration is sufficiently performed on the substrate, so that high adhesion can be obtained. However, if all layers are made by sputtering, the film deposition speed is slow and the film speed needs to be very slow to obtain the film thickness necessary to provide barrier properties. Problems arise. On the other hand, the inorganic layer formed by sputtering and the second inorganic layer formed by vapor deposition or the like easily undergo chemical reaction, and high adhesion strength can be obtained with the layer formed by sputtering. In order to solve these problems, a sputter layer with high adhesion is formed as a first layer in a range that does not affect the productivity, and a film thickness sufficient to obtain barrier properties using a vapor deposition method as the second layer. The method of forming was found.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail.
The plastic substrate referred to in the present invention is a film obtained by melt-extrusion of an organic polymer and stretching, cooling, and heat setting in the longitudinal direction and / or the width direction as necessary. As polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene-2, 6-naphthalate, nylon 6, nylon 4, nylon 66, nylon 12, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride, polyvinyl alcohol, wholly aromatic polyamide, polyamideimide, polyimide , Polyetherimide, polysulfone, polyphenylene sulfide, polyphenylene oxide and the like. These (organic polymers) organic polymers may be copolymerized or blended with a small amount of other organic polymers.

  Furthermore, known additives such as ultraviolet absorbers, antistatic agents, plasticizers, lubricants, colorants and the like may be added to the organic polymer, and the transparency thereof is not particularly limited. When used as a transparent gas barrier film, a film having a transmittance of 50% or more is preferable.

  The plastic substrate of the present invention may be subjected to corona discharge treatment, glow discharge treatment, or other surface roughening treatment prior to laminating the thin film layer as long as the object of the present invention is not impaired. In addition, anchor coat treatment, printing, and decoration may be applied. The thickness of the plastic substrate of the present invention is preferably in the range of 5 to 500 μm, more preferably in the range of 8 to 300 μm.

  The anchor layer in the present invention is considered to be made of an oxide / nitride of Al, Si, and Ti, and the ratio thereof varies depending on the production conditions. The higher the amount of nitrogen introduced to the complete oxide, the higher the effect of improving the lamination strength. However, when the proportion of nitrogen is too high, the deposition rate of sputtering decreases and the coloring becomes severe. On the other hand, when the oxygen concentration is high, the coloring is lost, but the effect of improving the laminating strength during watering is small. The amount of nitrogen is preferably 10% to 40% of oxygen replaced with nitrogen, more preferably 15 to 30%, based on the complete oxide. On the other hand, if the thickness of the anchor layer is thin, the effect of improvement cannot be expected. Conversely, if the thickness is too large, the effect on the laminar strength increases. However, from the viewpoint of flexibility, 1 to 8 nm is preferable, and 2 is more preferable. ~ 5 nm.

A sputtering method is used to create such an anchor layer. Among the sputtering methods, the DC magnetron sputtering method is preferable in consideration of the continuous formation with the barrier layer. A nitride or oxide target is generally slower in deposition rate than a metal target, and there is a concern about a decrease in production rate. Therefore, it is more preferable to use reactive sputtering in which metal is used as a target and sputtering is performed while introducing oxygen and nitrogen. In order to stabilize the discharge state, the pressure is preferably between 1.3 × 10 ⁻² Pa and 1.3 Pa. In order to keep the pressure constant, it is preferable to introduce an inert gas such as Ar in addition to oxygen and nitrogen.

For the production of the oxide thin film, a PVD method (physical vapor deposition method) such as a vacuum vapor deposition method, a sputtering method, or an ion plating method is appropriately used. For example, in the vacuum deposition method, a mixture of Al ₂ O ₃ , Al, SiO, Si, SiO ₂ or the like is used as an evaporation material source, and resistance heating, high frequency induction heating, electron beam heating are used as heating methods. Laser heating or the like can be used. Further, as the reactive gas, oxygen, nitrogen, water vapor or the like may be introduced, or reactive vapor deposition using means such as ozone addition or ion assist may be used. Further, as long as a bias or the like is not applied to the substrate or the object of the present invention is not impaired, the production conditions may be changed. The product of the present invention may be used as it is, but may be used by laminating or coating another organic polymer film or thin layer.

  The oxygen concentration referred to in the present invention is an oxygen / nitrogen concentration contained in a thin film measured using an X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (hereinafter referred to as ESCA) or an Auger electron microscope. In the above method, the amount of aluminum, silicon, and titanium can be measured simultaneously, and the ratio of the five can be measured. In addition, by etching the thin film using argon or the like, variation in composition in the thickness direction of the thin film can be measured.

Next, the present invention will be specifically described using examples and comparative examples. Various physical properties were measured as follows.
1) Measuring method of oxygen permeability (OTR) The oxygen permeability of the prepared gas barrier film was measured using an oxygen permeability measuring device (OX-TRAN100 manufactured by Modern Controls).
2) Measuring method of water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) The prepared sample was measured at 40 ° C., 100% R.D. H. The measurement was performed using a measuring device (PARMATRAN-W) manufactured by MOCON, USA.
3) Test method for bending fatigue resistance (hereinafter referred to as gelbo characteristics) The bending fatigue resistance was evaluated using a so-called gelboflex tester (manufactured by Rigaku Corporation). The conditions are (MIL-B131H), a 11.2 inch × 8 inch sample piece is cylindrical with a diameter of 3 (1/2) inch, both ends are held, an initial gripping interval is 7 inches, and a stroke 3 (1/2) The reciprocating motion of this operation was performed at a speed of 40 times / min under the conditions of 20 ° C. and 65% relative humidity.
4) Measuring method of Lami strength TM590 / CAT56 manufactured by Toyo Morton Co., Ltd. was mixed at a weight ratio of 15: 2.4, applied with a bar coater to a dry coating amount of 3 g, and a polyethylene film manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd. (L6102, 40 μm). ) Was laminated. This was cut into a width of 15 mm and a length of 100 mm, and the peel strength between the polyethylene film and the base PET film was measured.

(Example 1)
In a continuous vapor deposition apparatus as shown in FIG. 1, a magnetron sputtering target 2 is arranged toward a cooling roll 1. A titanium plate having a purity of 99.5% was used as the target. A partition plate for preventing the outflow of gas was provided around the target so that the pressure in the vicinity of the target did not affect the deposition chamber. Sputtering was performed on a 12 μm thick PET film (Toyobo Co., Ltd .: E5100). The sputtering pressure was set to 5.3 × 10 ⁻¹ Pa by introducing 10 SCCM of O 2 and 10 SCCM of nitrogen. The completed thin film was titanium oxide / nitride. The input power was 4.7 W / cm ² . The running speed of the film was 130 m / min, and the film thickness was 3 nm. After providing a thin film of titanium oxide / nitride on the film, an inorganic vapor deposition film was continuously processed.

PET film on which anchor coating is applied by electron beam evaporation using particulate SiO ₂ (purity 99.9%) and Al ₂ O ₃ (purity 99.9%) of about 3 to 5 mm as a deposition source. A mixed gas barrier layer of aluminum oxide and silicon dioxide was formed thereon. The evaporation material was divided into two parts without mixing. An electron gun (hereinafter referred to as an EB gun) was used as a heating source, and each of the three types of raw materials was heated in a time-sharing manner. At that time, the emission current of the EB gun was set to 1.2 A, and the heating ratio of SiO ₂ to Al ₂ O ₃ was set to 1: 2. The film feed rate was 130 m / min, and a 20 nm thick film was produced. Moreover, the temperature of the roll for cooling the film at the time of vapor deposition was adjusted to -10 degreeC. In order to measure the oxygen concentration of the thin film, a part of the obtained gas barrier film was cut out and the ratio of oxygen, nitrogen concentration and Al, Si, O was measured using ESCA.

The target is a mixture of aluminum and silicon (weight ratio 40:60), the input power is 5.2 W / cm ² , reactive sputtering is performed while introducing 15 SCCM of oxygen and 10 SCCM of nitrogen, and mixed oxidation / nitridation of aluminum and silicon. A thin film of material was created. The thin film was 3 nm. The vapor deposition film produced the film on the same conditions as Example 1. FIG.

The target was aluminum, the input power was 3.3 W / cm ² , reactive sputtering was performed while introducing 10 SCCM of oxygen and 10 SCCM of nitrogen, and a thin film of oxidized and aluminum nitride was prepared. The film thickness was 3 nm. The vapor deposition film produced the film on the same conditions as Example 1. FIG.

(Comparative Example 1)
Without forming an anchor coat, a deposited film was directly formed on PET. The deposited film was created under the same conditions as in Example 1.

(Comparative Example 2)
In a continuous vapor deposition apparatus as shown in FIG. 1, a magnetron sputtering target 2 is arranged toward a cooling roll 1. A titanium plate having a purity of 99.5% was used as the target. A partition plate for preventing the outflow of gas was provided around the target so that the pressure in the vicinity of the target did not affect the deposition chamber. Sputtering was performed on a 12 μm thick PET film (Toyobo Co., Ltd .: E5100). The sputtering pressure was set to 5.3 × 10 ⁻¹ Pa by introducing 10 SCCM of Ar. The input power was 4.7 W / cm ² . After providing a Ti thin film on the film, an inorganic vapor deposition film was continuously processed. The barrier layer was prepared under the same conditions as in Example 1.

(Comparative Example 3)
In a continuous vapor deposition apparatus as shown in FIG. 1, a magnetron sputtering target 2 is arranged toward a cooling roll 1. A titanium plate having a purity of 99.5% was used as the target. A partition plate for preventing the outflow of gas was provided around the target so that the pressure in the vicinity of the target did not affect the deposition chamber. The sputtering pressure was 15 SCCM of O _{2 and} was set to 5.3 × 10 ⁻¹ Pa. A titanium oxide thin film was formed by reactive sputtering. The input power was 4.7 W / cm ² . The running speed of the film was 130 m / min, and the film thickness was 3 nm. After providing a thin film of titanium oxide on the film, an inorganic vapor deposition film was continuously processed. The barrier layer was produced under the same conditions as in Example 1.

[Create laminate film]
Next, a polyurethane-based adhesive (manufactured by Toyo Morton Co., Ltd., main agent / curing agent TM-590 / CAT56) was applied to the vapor deposition surfaces of the obtained Examples 1 to 3 and Comparative Examples 1 to 3 in an amount of 80 μm. After heat treatment at 0 ° C., a low density polyethylene film (L6102 thickness 40 μm, manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.) was dry laminated at a nip pressure of 490 kPa on a metal roll heated to 80 ° C. to obtain a laminate film. About the obtained laminate film, the oxygen permeation amount and the water vapor permeation amount before and after the gelbo were prepared.

  The evaluation results of Examples 1 to 3 and Comparative Examples 1 to 3 are shown in Table 1.

  By sequentially laminating an anchor coat layer made of a metal acid / nitride and a barrier layer made of a metal oxide on a plastic film substrate, it has a high barrier property and high adhesive strength, especially when water is applied. A strong transparent barrier film can be obtained.

  The present invention is a film having excellent gas barrier properties and high laminate strength when laminated with other films, for food packaging such as snack foods, rice confectionery, dry articles, cereals, etc. The present invention relates to a barrier film suitable for a material packaging, a protective film for solar cells and the like.

It is a perspective view of the evaluation sample of this invention polyamide system covering molding.

Explanation of symbols

1: Cooling roll 2: Magnetron sputtering device 3: Deposition crucible 4: Electron gun 5: Unwinding roll 6: Winding roll

Claims (3)

  A film in which an anchor layer and a barrier layer are provided on at least one surface of a plastic substrate, wherein the anchor layer is made of a metal oxide / nitride, and the gas barrier layer is made of a metal oxide thin film. A transparent gas barrier film provided.   2. The gas barrier film according to claim 1, wherein the metal forming the anchor layer is formed of one or more of titanium, aluminum and silicon, and the anchor layer is formed by sputtering. Gas barrier film characterized by   2. The gas barrier film according to claim 1, wherein the inorganic barrier layer is made of a mixed oxide of at least one of aluminum and silicon, and the inorganic barrier layer has a thickness of 5 to 50 nm. the film.

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