Controlled diffusion by thin layer coating: The intricate case of the glass-stopper interface

Julie Chanut (1, 2) , Jean-Pierre Bellat (2) , Régis Gougeon (3, 4) , Thomas Karbowiak (3)

1 PAM - Procédés Alimentaires et Microbiologiques [Dijon]
2 ICB - Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Carnot de Bourgogne
3 PCAV - Physico-Chimie de l'Aliment et du Vin
4 IUVV Jules Guyot - Institut Universitaire de la Vigne et du Vin "Jules Guyot"

A comprehensive study was carried out to investigate the critical role played by the interface between the stopper and the bottleneck on oxygen penetration into the bottle, as well as the effect of surface treatment of the stopper. First, the compression of micro-agglomerated cork, at close to 40% (similar to that of a cork stopper in a still wine bottleneck), had a very limited effect on the oxygen transfer. Second, once a cork was inserted into a glass bottleneck without any surface treatment, up to 99% of the total oxygen transfer took place at the stopper-bottleneck interface. Third, when the cork surface was coated with a paraffin-silicone mixture, there was almost no oxygen transfer at the interface. Although initially used as a slippery agent for easier uncorking, the surface coating of the stopper, as a thin layer of several hundred nanometers, had a remarkable and unexpected impact on the control of the oxygen transfer.

Mots clés: Gas transfer; Oxygen; Agglomerated cork; Interface; Surface treatment

Domaines: Alimentation et Nutrition; Biochimie, Biologie Moléculaire

Julie Chanut, Jean-Pierre Bellat, Régis Gougeon, Thomas Karbowiak. Controlled diffusion by thin layer coating: The intricate case of the glass-stopper interface. Food Control, 2021, 120, pp.107446. ⟨10.1016/j.foodcont.2020.107446⟩. ⟨hal-02989078⟩