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Abstract

The gas and flavor barrier enhancement of plastic closures for food and beverage applications was attempted through thin film coating. Diamond-like carbon (DLC) thin films were formed onto the inner surface of closures, using a specific plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technique. In order to overcome the difficulty in forming a high gas barrier thin film coating onto the surface of the sealing parts of plastic closures, wet treatment using 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (3APTMS) was applied in prior to DLC coating. As a result, the oxygen gas barrier of the sealing parts was significantly increased. Flavor barrier enhancement was also confirmed based on the sorption of d-limonene inside the coated sealing parts.