Modeling the Oxygen Barrier Properties of Nylon Film Intended for Food Packaging Applications

In this paper a mathematical model aimed to predict the oxygen permeability coefficient of Nylon film as function of the water activity at the upstream and downstream side of the film is presented. The solubilization and diffusion process of oxygen were separately described. The Henry’s law was used to model the oxygen solubilization process, while the oxygen diffusion process was described by means of the First Fick’s Law with a diffusion coefficient depending on local water concentration. To validate the model, oxygen permeability tests were conducted at 25 °C. The fitting and predictive ability of the proposed model was successfully tested by fitting and predicting the oxygen permeability coefficient. The obtained results point out the need for a more accurate analysis of the oxygen and water transport phenomena in the case of water sensitive packaging films such as Nylon.