Henry's law coefficients and partial molar volumes of 34 penetrants (5 inert gases, 6 inorganic gases, 17 hydrocarbon gases, 5 fluorinated gases, and CCl4 vapor) dissolved in poly(dimethylsiloxane) and low-density polyethylene were determined at 25 °C by measuring sorption of the gases and the concomitant dilation of the polymers. From the Henry's law coefficients and the partial molar volumes, Flory−Huggins parameters for polymer/gas interactions were estimated. The partial molar volumes were correlated with critical molar volumes of gases, and the interaction parameters were found to depend on the partial molar volumes. These relationships for the fluorinated gases were clearly different from those of all other gases. For CO2 and CH4 in poly(dimethylsiloxane), partial molar volumes and interaction parameters were obtained as a function of temperature over a range −30 to 95 °C. Thermal expansivities of these dissolved molecules were estimated to be 2 × 10-3 °C-1 from the temperature dependence of partial molar volumes.

Sorption of CO2 in poly(methyl methacrylate) at 35−200 °C and concurrent dilation of the polymer at 35−85 °C over a pressure range up to 50 atm were studied. Dissolution and Flory−Huggins interaction parameters for the gas in the polymer, not only in the rubbery state but also in the glassy state, were estimated by analyzing the sorption data above the glass transition temperature (T g0, 105 °C). Isothermal glass transition of the polymer/gas system was observed on isotherms of sorption and dilation below T g0. Partial molar volumes of sorbed CO2 determined from the sorption and dilation isotherms increased with increasing concentration to the glass transition concentration. These isotherms were also analyzed on the basis of extended dual-mode models of sorption and dilation. From obtained parameters of the dual-mode models, nonequilibrium properties such as mean size and number of microvoids for the pure polymer and the CO2-sorbed polymer in the glassy state were evaluated. The mean size, dependent upon CO2 exposure history of the polymer, was in the range of 20−100 A3, and the number of microvoid ((1−18) × 1020 voids/cm3) was dependent upon both temperature and the exposure history.

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Sorption and dilation in the system poly(ethyl methacrylate) (PEMA) and carbon dioxide are reported for pressures up to 50 atm over the temperature range 15–85°C. The sorption isotherms were obtained gravimetrically. The dilation accompanying sorption was measured directly with a cathetometer. At low temperatures the sorption and dilation isotherms were concave toward the pressure axis in the low‐pressure region and turned to convex with increasing pressure. As the experimental temperature approached and exceeded the glass transition temperature of 61°C, both isotherms became convex or linear over the whole range of pressure. Partial molar volumes of CO2 in PEMA were obtained from sorption and dilation data, which were described well by the extended dual‐mode sorption and dilation models developed recently. The temperature dependence of the dual‐mode parameters and the isothermal glass transition are discussed.

A gravimetric method for determining precisely the solubility of gases in polymers at high pressure is described. The solubilities of N2 and CO2 in low‐density polyethylene (LDPE); CO2 in polycarbonate (PC); and N2, CH4, C2H6, and CO2 in polysulfone (PSUL) have been measured as a function of pressure up to 50 atm. Most of the measured sorption isotherms agreed closely with published data, but reproducible and time‐dependent hysteresis in the sorption of CO2, C2H6, and CH4 in glassy polymers, PC, and PSUL, was observed in this study for the first time. Like the well known conditioning effect of high‐pressure CO2 on the sorption capacity of glassy polymers, these hysteresis phenomena are believed to be due to the plasticizing effect of sorbed gases. On the basis of the current data, the dual‐mode sorption model including the plasticization by sorbed gas is discussed and a primitive equation for the concentration of sorbed gases in a quasiequilibrium state of sorption or desorption is proposed.

High‐pressure sorption (up to 50 atm) for CO2, N2, and Ar in poly(vinyl benzoate) (PVB) was studied at temperatures from 25 to 70°C by a gravimetric method utilizing an electromicrobalance. The results are described by Henry's law above the glass transition temperature Tg for all gases. The dual‐mode sorption model, Henry's law plus a Langmuir isotherm, applies to the sorption isotherms of N2 and Ar in the glassy state, and the dual‐mode parameters are given. For CO2, a new type of sorption isotherm is observed below Tg. The isotherm is concave to the pressure axis in the low‐pressure region and turns into a straight line with increasing CO2 pressure which can be extrapolated back to the coordinate origin. The linear part of the isotherm is characteristic of the rubbery state, while the nonlinear part stems from glassystate behavior. The “glass transition solubility” of CO2, at which PVB film changes from the glassy to the rubbery state, decrease as the temperature increases. The disappearance of microvoids, that is, the decrease of the Langmuir capacity, may be due to a large plasticizing effect of sorbed CO2. The difference between the N2 and Ar isotherms and the CO2 isotherm is discussed from this standpoint.

SynopsisSorption of N2, 02, Ar, CHI, COz, C2HI, and CzHs in poly( dimethyl siloxane) liquid and rubber and the dilation of the polymers due to sorption of the gases are studied at 25OC under pressures up to 50 atm. In the liquid, the sorption isotherms for low-solubility and high-solubility gases are described by Henry's law and the Flory-Huggins equation, respectively. Gas sorption in the rubber, which contains a 29 wt % silica filler, follows the dual-mode sorption model, though marked hysteresis is observed in the sorption of O2 and CHI. The dilation isotherms increase linearly or exponentially in both polymers with increasing pressure. Considering that gas molecules adsorbed into micropores of the filler particles do not participate in the dilation, partial molar volumes of the dissolved gases in the rubber are determined from data of sorption and dilation. The values are nearly equal to the partial molar volumes in the liquid (48-60 cm3/mol).

Dilation of polysulfone (PSUL) and crystalline poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) films accompanying sorption of carbon dioxide is measured by a cathetometer under high pressure up to 50 atm over the temperature range of 35–65°C. Sorptive dilation isotherms of PSUL are concave and convex to the pressure and concentration axes, respectively, and both isotherms exhibit hysteresis. Each dilation isotherm plotted versus pressure and concentration for the CO2‐PET system shows an inflection point, i.e., a glass transition point, at which the isotherm changes from a nonlinear curve to a straight line. Dilation isotherms of PET below the glass transition point are similar to those of the CO2‐PSUL system, whereas the isotherms above the glass transition point are linear and exhibit no hysteresis. Partial molar volumes of CO2 in these polymers are determined from data of sorptive dilation. On the basis of the extended dual‐mode sorption model and the current data, primitive equations for gas‐sorptive dilation of glassy polymers are proposed.