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.