Layer-by-layer assembly of Nafion on Surlyn with ultrahigh water vapor barrier

A layer-by-layer approach was used for the fabrication of multilayer films for ultra high gas barrier applications. The ultra high gas barrier material was designed by incorporating Nafion layer in between bilayers of poly(ethylene imine) and poly(acrylic acid) on a Surlyn substrate. When the barrier film with self-assembled Nafion is exposed to the moist environment, Nafion absorbs and desorbs water molecules simultaneously, thereby reducing the ingress of moisture in to the film. In order to study the effect of Nafion, the fabricated barrier materials with and without the presence of Nafion were tested for water vapor barrier properties. The barrier films were further used for encapsulating organic photovoltaic devices and were evaluated for their potential use in barrier applications. The devices encapsulated with the films containing Nafion exhibited better performance when subjected to accelerated aging conditions. Therefore, this study demonstrates the effectiveness of self-assembled Nafion in reducing the water vapor permeability by nearly five orders of magnitude and in increasing the lifetimes of organic devices by ∼22 times under accelerated weathering conditions.