Which plastics can helium support?

Asked by emmalazarus (4

) March 2nd, 2011

I’m trying to make an inflatable, helium-filled sculpture, but don’t know much about the material. Can I inflate plastic-bag material (high density polyehthylene)? Or is there a more favorable material i could use?

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3 Answers

Most if not all plastics are porous and Helium is a small molecule and will pass through the plastic over time. You could try sealing the sculpture with a sealer and that my help contain the Helium longer but I would not plan on forever. A refillable bladder may make some sense if this sculpture will need to have the Helium long term. Party stores use a liquid sealer in their balloons to give them long float time of sometimes weeks with the Mylar balloons going even longer.

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