The concentration‐dependent diffusion of styrene in ethyl cellulose

Abstract

The diffusion of styrene vapor in ethyl cellulose film has been studied as a function of styrene solubility in the film at 50°C. Methods and data are presented for determining the equilibrium solubility of styrene in ethyl cellulose as a function of vapor pressure at 50°C. The permeation rates of styrene vapor through 3‐mil film were determined under steady state conditions for various pressures of pure styrene vapor on one side of the film and vacuum on the other side. From a plot of permeation rates versus styrene solubility the diffusion coefficient was calculated as a function of concentration. Measurements made over a concentration range of 0 to 0.7 g. styrene/cm.³ of unswollen film show that the diffusion coefficient first increases rapidly with concentration, then goes through a maximum, and finally levels off at 10⁻⁷ cm.²/sec. In the limited range of 0.06 to 0.10 g./cm.³ the diffusion coefficient varies exponentially with concentration as has been reported for other systems in a similar range. However, such a functionality does not represent the present system over a broad concentration range. These results, if generally applicable to other systems, indicate that the nature of the diffusion process for organic vapors in polymers may be considerably more complicated than formerly supposed.