Selection of barrier materials from molecular structure

Abstract A prediction technique for gas permeability from polymer structure has been developed on the basis of a specific free volume diffusion theory. In this theory, the free volume available per unit mass in a polymer structure controls the rate of gas diffusion and, hence, its rate of permeation. The smaller this specific free volume is, the more difficult the gas diffusion and, thus, the better its barrier to gases becomes. Specifically, the theory predicts a linear relationship between log (permeability) and (−1/specific volume). A number of existing polymers covering six orders of magnitude in CO 2 permeability and O 2 permeability were found to follow this correlation. The specific free volume in a polymer was obtained from group contribution calculations. As a result, the gas permeabilities become predictable from the specific volume in a polymer which, in turn, varies with its molecular structure. The advent of this specific free volume theory for gas permeation simplifies greatly the selection of barrier materials for packaging applications. For a given barrier application, a critical specific free volume is first defined from its gas barrier requirement. The polymer structures having specific free volumes smaller than the critical value are then identified. These are the polymers that would have the necessary barrier performance. By this theory, molecular structures, with string polar‐to‐polar interactions and hydrogen‐bonding forces are found to be good barriers to CO 2 and O 2 .