Transport Properties and mechanical behavior of poly(methylphenylsiloxane) membranes as a function of methyl to phenyl groups ratio

ERDMANN,E.; ABALOS,R.; DESTEFANIS,H.A.; FRONTINI,P.M.; ABRAHAM,G.A.

JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Lugar: New York, USA; Año: 2002 vol. 85 p. 1624 - 1633

0021-8995

Membranes based on dimethyl and methyl-phenylsiloxane were synthesized and fully characterized. Transport properties and mechanical behavior were determined at different methyl/phenyl groups ratios and the effects of these groups on results were established. Membrane transport properties were evaluated from n-hexane absorption studies. Static tensile stress-strain deformation measurements, stress-hysteresis determination and stress-relaxation studies were performed in order to assess the mechanical behavior of these membranes. The results indicate that both physical-mechanical and transport properties are strongly affected by the methyl group content which determine the crosslinking degree. The increase of the phenyl groups in the polymer chain impairs gas permeability due to the diminution in free volume and penetrant solubility.