Stretch‐tolerant PECVD gas barrier coatings for sustainable flexible packaging

This study employs X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thickness measurements, permeation analysis and laser scanning microscopy to analyse the stretch tolerance in dependence of the chemical composition and deposition rates of plasma‐enhanced chemical vapour deposition coatings. SiOx and SiOCH coatings are deposited on polyethylene terephthalate film using a full factorial study design of three parameters (monomer/oxygen mass flow and pulse duration). They exhibit distinct differences, with the monomer mass flow emerging as a critical factor influencing deposition rates and stretch tolerance. SiOCH coatings demonstrate faster growth rates due to higher monomer flow. SiOx coatings exhibit superior barrier performance. Stretch tolerance does not solely correlate with atomic composition, since a SiOx coating with higher‐than‐predicted stretch tolerance was observed.