Text Box: 10:10 AM Text Box: PACKAGING Text Box: The Effect of High Pressure Processing and Heat Treatment on Nylon 6, Nylon 6/EVOH, and Nylon Text Box: Linna Halim and Dr. Pascall Text Box: Polymeric nanocomposite materials have superior barrier, thermal, mechanical and optical properties than similar materials made with macro size particles. However, these benefits are only useful if the materials’ integrity is maintained. This study was to determine the impact of selected processing techniques on the integrity of nanocomposite materials by: (1) comparing the barrier properties of nylon 6 (N6), nylon 6/nanocomposites (N6/Nano), and nylon 6/ethylene vinyl alcohol (N6/EVOH); and (2) evaluating of the effect of pasteurization and High Pressure Processing (HPP) on the barrier properties of each material. For the effect of pasteurization, pouches made from these materials were filled with water, sealed and pasteurized at 75°C for 10 minutes. For the effect of HPP, 3” x 3” films were placed inside water-filled LDPE pouches then high pressure processed at 800 MPa for 10 minutes at 70°C. Following these treatments, the oxygen (OTR) and water vapor transmission rates (WVTR) were measured using Mocon Ox-Tran 2/21 and Mocon Permatran W6, respectively. Results showed that OTR of N6 increased significantly after HPP and pasteurization. However, the OTR of N6/EVOH decreased significantly after HPP and pasteurization. On the other hand, the OTR of N6/Nano showed significant increased after pasteurization but insignificant increased after HPP. The WVTR of N6, N6/EVOH, and N6/Nano increased after HPP and Pasteurization. In conclusion, the barrier properties of nanocomposite nylon materials could be affected by certain processing techniques. These effects may vary depending on the processing technique selected.