Polymer Chemistry

Diffusion in Polymers

Some polymers are pervious, whilst ceramics, metals, and glasses are generally impassable. Diffusion of small molecules through the polymers plays a major role in different scientific and engineering fields such as medicine, textile industry, membrane separations, packaging in food industry etc. Mass transfer through the polymeric membranes including dense and porous membranes relies upon the components includes solubility and diffusivity of the penetrant into the polymer, morphology, fillers, and plasticization. For instance, polymers with high crystallinity usually are less penetrable because of the porosity of crystallites. In the case of nanocomposites, the penetrants cannot diffuse through the structure directly as they are confined. This session centers around the theory and methodology of diffusion process, factors affecting them, thermodynamics of polymer blend, mass transfer across the interface etc.