Sorption and diffusion of arenes through poly (ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) membranes

The sorption and diffusion of aromatic hydrocarbons through poly (ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) membranes has been investigated in the temperature interval of 25–70 C using the sorption gravimetric analysis. The carbon–carbon crosslinks are introduced by using benzoyl peroxide (BP). Diffusion through membranes containing different loading of BP was carried out. For all liquids, the equilibrium solvent uptake was influenced by the penetrant size, temperature and crosslinking density. Thermodynamic constants are estimated from the sorption measurements. The values of polymer–solvent interaction parameters obtained from the diffusion experiments have been used to calculate the molecular mass between crosslinks of the network polymer. The transport mechanism was found to follow close Fickian behavior at 28 C, but at high temperature, mechanism deviates to anomalous mode of transport.