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Permeation of oxygen and water vapor through EVOH films as influenced by relative humidity
Author(s) -
Zhang Zhongbin,
Britt Ian J.,
Tung Marvin A.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.2030
Subject(s) - water vapor , permeation , relative humidity , oxygen , humidity , polymer , oxygen permeability , ethylene , chemistry , chemical engineering , polymer chemistry , materials science , molecule , membrane , organic chemistry , thermodynamics , catalysis , biochemistry , physics , engineering
The transport properties of oxygen and water vapor through EVOH films as functions of relative humidity (RH) and temperature were studied. The results of oxygen and water vapor permeation demonstrated that temperature and RH markedly affected barrier properties of these films. In general, the EVOH films had minimal oxygen and water vapor permeabilities at a low RH, attributed to the reduced mobility of the polymer resulting from strong interactions between small water molecules and the polymeric matrix at low RH. Beyond 75% RH, the permeabilities increased considerably. In addition, the barrier performance of the EVOH films was found to be dependent on their ethylene content and orientation. From the experimental data, semiempirical equations describing oxygen transmission rates (O 2 TR) as functions of RH and temperature were developed. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 82: 1866–1872, 2001