Gas transport in epoxidized natural rubber

The diffusion and solution of CO2 and CH4 in epoxidized natural rubber has been studied over the temperature range of 30–60°C. The dependence of the solubility constant on the degree of epoxidation is weak for CO2 and the corresponding dependence of the permeability is determined largely by that of the diffusion constant. For CH4 there is a significant decrease in the solubility with the degree of expoxidation which can be attributed to the corresponding variation in the heat of sorption.