Silicone permeability

The effect of molecular structure on the permeability of the silicone film has been studied extensively in the past [62, 59, 63-66]. In one of the pioneering studies of silicone permeability, Robb demonstrated that the substitution of the methyl group by a phenyl one in the PDMS significantly reduces the gas permeability of the material The introduction of such a... 

Silicone Acrylates. The development of rigid gas-permeable lens materials advanced significantly after the development of polysiloxanylaLkyl acrylates and methacrylates (1), as a component in hard lens materials (56,57), as claimed in a series of patents (58—62). 

PDMS based siloxane polymers wet and spread easily on most surfaces as their surface tensions are less than the critical surface tensions of most substrates. This thermodynamically driven property ensures that surface irregularities and pores are filled with adhesive, giving an interfacial phase that is continuous and without voids. The gas permeability of the silicone will allow any gases trapped at the interface to be displaced. Thus, maximum van der Waals and London dispersion intermolecular interactions are obtained at the silicone-substrate interface. It must be noted that suitable liquids reaching the adhesive-substrate interface would immediately interfere with these intermolecular interactions and displace the adhesive from the surface. For example, a study that involved curing a one-part alkoxy terminated silicone adhesive against a wafer of alumina, has shown that water will theoretically displace the cured silicone from the surface of the wafer if physisorption was the sole interaction between the surfaces [38]. Moreover, all these low energy bonds would be thermally sensitive and reversible. 

A large membrane pack of this type will act like an artificial gill, permitting a swimmer to breathe like a fish and remain submerged for much longer periods of time than are possible with scuba equipment. Speculative fiction has man returning to live in the seas, and this type of application may make it possible. Their application in spacecraft is obvious as a part of a continuously recycled air support system. The oxygen permeability of silicone materials is just one example of the selective permeability of plastics. 

In the early time, the excellent gas permeability seemed to make them promising to be contact lenses. However, the poor hydrophilicity of silicone elastomers diminished their apparent utility. 

An analysis of partition coefficient data and drug solubilities in PCL and silicone rubber has been used to show how the relative permeabilities in PCL vary with the lipophilicity of the drug (58,59). The permeabilities of copolymers of e-caprolactone and dl-lactic acid have also been measured and found to be relatively invariant for compositions up to 50% lactic acid (67). The permeability then decreases rapidly to that of the homopolymer of dl-lactic acid, which is 10 times smaller than the value of PCL. These results have been discussed in terms of the polymer morphologies. 

Examples of preservatives are phenylmercuric nitrate or acetate (0.002% w/v), chlorhexidine acetate (0.01 % w/v), thiomersal (0.01 % w/v) and benzalkorrium chloride (0.01 % w/v). Chlorocresol is too toxic to the comeal epithehum, but 8-hydroxyquinoline and thiomersal may be used in specific instances. The principal considerahon in relation to antimicrobial properties is the activity of the bactericide against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a major source of serious nosocomial eye infections. Although benzal-konium chloride is probably the most active of the recommended preservatives, it cannot always be used because of its incompatibility with many compounds commonly used to treat eye diseases, nor should it be used to preserve eye-drops containing anaesthetics. Since benzalkonium chloride reacts with natural mbber, silicone or butyl rabber teats should be substituted. Since silicone mbber is permeable to water vapour, products should not be stored for more than 3 months after manufacture. As with all mbber components, the mbber teat should be pre-equilibrated with the preservative prior to... 

A mixture of lignosulfonates, alkali-treated brown coal, and minor amounts of organic silicon compounds (e.g., ethyl silicone) reduces the permeability of cements [1019]. The additives may interact with the crystallization centers of the cement slurry and form a gel system in its pores and capillaries, thus reducing the permeability of the cement and increasing its isolating capability. Furthermore, it is claimed that the additive retards the setting rate of cement up to 200° C and increases the resistance to corrosive media. 

Formation permeability damage caused by precipitation of dissolved minerals such as colloidal silica, aluminum hydroxide, and aluminum fluoride can reduce the benefits of acidizing (132-134). Careful treatment design, particularly in the concentration and amount of HF used is needed to minimize this problem. Hydrofluoric acid initially reacts with clays and feldspars to form silicon and aluminum fluorides. These species can react with additional clays and feldspars depositing hydrated silica in rock flow channels (106). This usually occurs before the spent acid can be recovered from the formation. However, some workers have concluded that permeability damage due to silica precipitation is much less than previously thought (135). 

The benefit of the LbL technique is that the properties of the assemblies, such as thickness, composition, and function, can be tuned by varying the layer number, the species deposited, and the assembly conditions. Further, this technique can be readily transferred from planar substrates (e.g., silicon and quartz slides) [53,54] to three-dimensional substrates with various morphologies and structures, such as colloids [55] and biological cells [56]. Application of the LbL technique to colloids provides a simple and effective method to prepare core-shell particles, and hollow capsules, after removal of the sacrificial core template particles. The properties of the capsules prepared by the LbL procedure, such as diameter, shell thickness and permeability, can be readily adjusted through selection of the core size, the layer number, and the nature of the species deposited [57]. Such capsules are ideal candidates for applications in the areas of drug delivery, sensing, and catalysis [48-51,57]. 

Other optodes have been developed and tested in-vivo, all of them using a fluorophore, the fluorescence of which is quenched by oxygen. In the intravascular sensor developed by CDI, previously described, a specially synthesised fluorophore, a modified decacyclene ( Lexc=385 nm, em=515 nm), is combined with a second reference-fluorophore that is insensitive to oxygen, and is incorporated into a hydrophobic silicon membrane that is permeable to oxygen. 

In this method the sample is acidified and the inorganic carbon is removed with nitrogen. An aliquot is resampled for analyses. Buffered persulfate is added and the sample is irradiated in the ultraviolet destructor for about 9 min. The hydroxylamine is added and the sample stream passes into the dialysis system. The carbon dioxide generated diffuses through the gas-permeable silicon membrane. A weakly buffered phenolphthalein indicator solution is used as the recipent stream, and the colour intensity of this solution decreases proportionately to the change in pH caused by the absorbed carbon dioxide... 

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