Polymers barrier

Barrier polymers are used for many packagiag and protective applications. As barriers they separate a system, such as an article of food or an electronic component, from an environment. That is, they limit the iatroduction of matter from the environment iato the system or limit the loss of matter from the system or both. In many cases the environment is simply room air, but the environment can be very different, such as ia the case of protecting a submerged system from water. 

The Permeation Process Barrier polymers limit movement of substances, hereafter called permeants. The movement can be through the polymer or, ia some cases, merely iato the polymer. The overall movement of permeants through a polymer is called permeation, which is a multistep process. First, the permeant molecule coUides with the polymer. Then, it must adsorb to the polymer surface and dissolve iato the polymer bulk. In the polymer, the permeant hops or diffuses randomly as its own thermal kinetic energy keeps it moving from vacancy to vacancy while the polymer chains move. The random diffusion yields a net movement from the side of the barrier polymer that is ia contact with a high concentration or partial pressure of the permeant to the side that is ia contact with a low concentration of permeant. After crossing the barrier polymer, the permeant moves to the polymer surface, desorbs, and moves away. 

Permeant movement is a physical process that has both a thermodynamic and a kinetic component. For polymers without special surface treatments, the thermodynamic contribution is ia the solution step. The permeant partitions between the environment and the polymer according to thermodynamic rules of solution. The kinetic contribution is ia the diffusion. The net rate of movement is dependent on the speed of permeant movement and the availabiHty of new vacancies ia the polymer. 

A few simple equations describe most appHcations of barrier polymers. Equation 1 is an adaptation for films of Fick s First Law. 

The diffusion coefficient, sometimes called the diffusivity, is the kinetic term that describes the speed of movement. The solubiHty coefficient, which should not be called the solubiHty, is the thermodynamic term that describes the amount of permeant that will dissolve ia the polymer. The solubiHty coefficient is a reciprocal Henry s Law coefficient as shown ia equation 3. 

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