Modeling the barrier properties of polymer-layered silicate nanocomposites

The effects of sheet length, concentration, orientation, and degree of delamination on the relative permeability were explored by modifying a simple tortuosity-based model. It was shown that dispersing longer sheets in a polymer matrix is beneficial in increasing the tortuosity, reducing the dependence of the relative permeability on the orientation order of the sheets, and slowing the degradation in barrier prosperity with decreasing state of delamination.