Transport of water dissolved oxygen in polymers via electrochemical technique

Transport properties of polymer membranes for dissolved oxygen in a liquid-membrane-liquid configuration were investigated by using an electrochemical technique based on the use of the Clark oxygen electrode. The oxygen permeability and the diffusivity coefficient in a polymer-water system can be determined accurately by appropriate choice of the experimental conditions. Polymers that do not absorb water such as polyethyleneterephtalate (PET) and bioriented polypropylene (OPP) were tested for permeation experiments in both gas-membrane-gas and liquid-membrane-liquid configuration. Data obtained in the liquid-membrane-liquid configuration with the electrochemical technique show excellent agreement with those obtained with the gas-membrane-gas configuration. The permeability of water saturated Kapton® polyimide (PI) for dissolved oxygen was also evaluated and compared with data obtained in the gas-membrane-gas configuration.