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Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics, Vol.38, No.14, 1833-1840, 2000
Permeability and morphology of poly(cis-butadiene)/ester-ether liquid crystal composite membranes
Various amounts of diethylene glycol bis [4-(4'-ethoxybenzoyloxy)benzoate] (DEBEB) were added into a poly(cis-butadiene) (PB) membrane to improve its gas permeation ability. This type of rubber/liquid crystal (LC) composite membranes showed two obvious characteristics that are different from the gas permeation behavior reported in previous literature: (1) The permeabilities to O-2, N-2, and CO2 were enhanced at room temperature, for example, the permeabilities for the PB/DEBEB (90/10) membrane were higher above six times than those of PB membrane under the same conditions. It is suggested that the interface microvoids probably existed on pontes between polar crystal domains and nonpolar PB matrix. (2) All relationships between the permeability coefficient (P) and temperature (T) were characterized by N-shape, that is, there were the peaks and valleys on the P-T curves. Furthermore, morphology studies demonstrated that when DEBEB content in the membranes was above 10 wt %, it was spherically dispersed and embedded in the PB matrix in a crystal domain state. Gas permeation characteristics of the composite membranes were appropriately interpreted as together influence results of DEBEB phase transition behavior and the membrane morphology.
Keywords:gas separation membrane;polymer/liquid crystal membrane;poly(cis-butadiene);diethylene glycol bis [4-(4 '-ethoxybenzoyloxy)benzoate]