ABSTRACT

Another process which involves the coupling of flow and diffusion is gas chromatography. The inverse gas chromatography (IGC) experiment is a useful method for obtaining solubility and diffusivity data in polymer-penetrant systems. For this experiment, the polymer is used as the stationary phase in a chromatographic column, and a solute is vaporized and injected into a carrier gas that flows through the column. The injected solute is absorbed by the polymer and hence is held back by the absorption process into a thin polymer layer. The shape of the chromatographic peak can be used to determine the solubility and diffusivity of the solute in the polymer. An analysis of the IGC experiment is also included in this chapter.