Performance Test of Silicone Rubber Membrane by Gas Permeation Method

기체투과에 의한 Silicone Rubber Membrane의 기능성 시험

The permeation of gas through polymer membrane at temperatures above its glass transition, generally occurs by a solution-diffusion mechanism. This mechanism is performed by the affinity difference between polymeric materials and gas molecules, and various technologies, such as copolymerization, impregnation and so on, have been researched to improve the affinity of polymeric material for the gases. In this study, permeability and selectivity for some gases were obtained from steady-state rates of gas permeation through silicone rubber membrane which is prepared by supercritical fluid extraction method. The permeability was measured by the volumetric method proposed by Barrer. Permeability was increased generally with temperature and permeation pressure. Silicone rubber membrane shows a higher permeability to $CO_2$ than to $O_2$, $N_2$. This results probably reflect the relatively high solubility of CO_2 in silicone rubber membrane, which is due to the affinity of $CO_2$ molecules. Since separation powers of $CO_2/N_2$, $CO_2/O_2$ were more than 200, and 100, respectively, it is able to separate $CO_2$ from the air, and the optimum temperature and pres-sure was 328.15 K, 60 cmHg respectively. In future, it is possible that the silicone rubber membrane can be used for separation or concentration of $CO_2$ through experiment for mixed gas separation.