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Diffusivity of alkanes in polystyrene

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Abstract

Gravimetry is used to study the diffusivity of a homologous series of linear alkanes (Cn, with n = 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16) in amorphous polystyrene at temperatures ranging from 45 °C to 145 °C, i.e. both below and above the polymer glass transition temperature (100 °C). All the mass uptake results obtained are well described by a simple Fickian model (for t < t1/2) and are used to calculate the corresponding diffusion coefficients (D) using the thin-film approximation of the Fickian equation. For all the alkanes considered, the temperature dependency of the diffusion coefficients is non-Arrhenius in character, over the broad temperature intervals considered. For any particular temperature log(D) varies linearly (R2 > 0.993, for all temperatures) with respect to the number of carbon atoms (n) in the alkyl chain, log(D) decreasing when n increases. For each liquid penetrant, over the temperature intervals considered, its log(D) also increases linearly (R2 > 0.996 for all the systems) with the decrease in the penetrant’s liquid viscosity.

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Acknowledgements

Gabriel Bernardo acknowledges financial support from the IPC’s (Institute for Polymers and Composites) strategic project: “PEst-C/CTM/LA0025/2011” (Projecto Estratégico -LA 25 - 2011–2012 - Strategic Project - LA 25 - 2011–2012).

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  1. Institute for Polymers and Composites/I3N, University of Minho - Campus de Azurém, 4800-058, Guimarães, Portugal

    Gabriel Bernardo

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  1. Gabriel Bernardo
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Correspondence to Gabriel Bernardo.

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Bernardo, G. Diffusivity of alkanes in polystyrene. J Polym Res 19, 9836 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-012-9836-2

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