Studies of Vapour Permeation of Chlorinated Hydrocarbons Through Natural Rubber-Clay Nanocomposite Membranes

Abstract

Natural Rubber/ clay nanocomposite membranes were prepared by blending on a two-roll mill followed by compression moulding in a hydraulic press. Vapour permeation studies were conducted with various chlorinated hydrocarbons for the characterization of membrane. Special attention has been given to the effect of clay concentration, type of clay, size of penetrant and type of vulcanization on the vapour transport behaviour of composites. It was found that permeability is low at higher clay concentration and also the permeability coefficient decreases with increase in penetrant size. Peroxide vulcanized membrane exhibit lowest vapour permeability than conventionally and efficiently vulcanized membrane, which can be attributed to the higher crosslink density of peroxide vulcanized membranes. The effect of clay concentration on the sorption and diffusion behaviour of composites is also investigated.