Application of mass spectrometer-inverse gas chromatography to study polymer–solvent diffusivity and solubility

The application of a mass spectrometer detector in capillary column inverse gas chromatography is shown to be a valuable tool in the measurement of diffusion and solubility in polymer–solvent systems. The component specific detector provides excellent results for binary polymer–solvent systems, but it is particularly valuable because it can be readily applied to multicomponent systems. Results for a number of infinitely dilute solvents in poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) are reported over a range of temperature from 60 to 150 °C. Results are also reported for finite concentrations of toluene and methanol in PVAc from 60 to 110 °C. Finally, the technique was applied to study the effect of finite concentrations of toluene on the diffusion coefficients of THF and cyclohexane in PVAc. The experimental data compare well with literature values for both infinite and finite concentrations, indicating that the experimental protocol described in this work is sound.