Macromolecules, Vol.31, No.7, 2349-2352, 1998
Relevance of elastic energies during sorption of CO2 molecules in glassy polymers demonstrated for two very similar polyimides
Data on CO2-sorption in and corresponding volume changes of three polyimides are evaluated in the framework of a recent model where elastic distortion of glassy polymers during dissolution of small molecules is taken into account. Due to the chemical identity and structural similarity of the polymers, differences in the behavior of CO2 can be attributed solely to differences in the distribution of the intermolecular space (holes). Thus the polyimide with the lowest volume change has the smallest elastic energy and, therefore, the largest solubility of CO2. The evaluation yields values of the average free energy of sorption and the width and average volume of the distribution of holes.
Keywords:PARTIAL MOLAR VOLUME