Applicability of the series resistance model in predicting the permeability of coated papers to oxygen and water vapor: importance of data quality and associated metadata

The prediction of barrier properties is essential in materials sciences, especially in food packaging where the use of packaging materials with targeted barrier properties is essential. This study assessed the suitability of the series resistance model, assuming the additivity of transfer resistances of individual layers, to predict oxygen and water vapor permeabilities of polymer-coated cardboards. More than 250 permeation data of polymer-coated cardboards from 35 scientific articles were collected from the literature. However, the quality of collected permeation parameter data differed from one article to the other, therefore a quality index was developed to quantify the quality and assess their reusability. Different criteria were used in the quality index calculations such as accuracy, completeness, consistency, and reusability. This quality index highlighted that most permeation parameter data from the literature (∼58 %) were not reusable due to the lack of associated metadata. Despite the amount of data collected, the series resistance model could only be applied to a few permeation parameter data in the peculiar case of polymer-coated cardboards. While the predicted and experimental permeability values (oxygen and water vapor) sometimes aligned, the model often failed to provide accurate predictions. One major hypothesis being that such model did not consider the impregnated layer present in the materials. While a three-layer model might offer more accurate predictions, the lack of quantitative information in the literature regarding the impregnated layer (thickness and permeability) prevents its use and validation.