Self diffusion measurements of organic molecules in PDMS and water in sodium alginate membranes

The self-diffusion of some organic molecules in silicone rubber and of water and water–ethanol mixtures in sodium alginate membranes was investigated to obtain information on the transport behavior in these systems. The temperature dependence of self-diffusion was examined by the pulsed field gradient NMR technique. The experimental data confirm the homogeneous amorphous nature of PDMS and the affinity of silicone rubber to apolar solvents. The interrelations between solvent and polymer structures of the sodium alginate membrane varying the temperature have been obtained using differential scanning calorimetric. The results have been compared with the trend of self-diffusion coefficients, and structure modifications of the membranes have been evidenced. The overall results confirm the potentialities of the technique used in measuring transport parameter in polymeric membranes.