Characterization of physical and viscoelastic properties of polymer films for coating applications under different temperature of drying and storage

The increasing tendency to enhance consumer products with added functionality is leading to ever more complex products. Nowadays more and more particulate products are coated to give the product specific functionalities. An appropriate approach is needed to be able to satisfy customer's requirements. In this work, three reference well-known coating agents, namely two grades of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) and one polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) were selected and investigated. Aqueous solutions of such polymers were obtained and viscosity and shear stress were measured function of shear rate, temperature and polymer concentration. The viscosities of the solutions appear to be mainly shear rate independent, they clearly show Newtonian behaviour. Drying and storage conditions influence on morphology and structure of the cast films were evaluated using scanning electron microscope (SEM). Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) experiments were carried out on HPMC and PVA cast films to assess the viscoelastic properties over wide temperature–frequency range. The time–temperature superposition principle was used to determine the shift factor, aT, and to compose a master curve. Magnitudes and profiles of storage modulus, E′, loss modulus, E″, and tan δ master curves are discussed with relation to drying and storage conditions. No impact of drying temperature on the polymer properties was observed whereas the effect of storage temperature resulted to be relevant in terms of shifts in glass transition temperature and, only partially, changes in the magnitudes of E′ and E″.