Effect of temperature on gas permeation of polymer blends. I. Poly(ethylene oxide)/copolyester–polyurethane

The transport behavior of H2, N2, and CO2, was studied for blends of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) with a copolyester–polyurethane (PU) at various temperatures from 20 to 80°C. It was found that there was an abrupt change in slope or discontinuity around the melting point of PEO in Arrhenius plot of the permeability vs. temperature. The relationships between the logarithms of gas permeability and blend composition were strongly dependent on the temperature and showed very different shapes at temperature below and above the melting point of PEO. The activation energy of gas permeation for the blends had different values below and above the melting temperature of PEO.