Determination of the Henry's Law Constant of Hexane in High-Viscosity Polymer Systems

The Henry's law constant of volatiles in polymer systems is a crucial parameter reflecting the gas-liquid equilibrium, which is very important for devolatilization. In this research, polyolefin elastomer (POE)-cyclohexane and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-hexane systems were studied, and the Henry's law constant was obtained by measuring the gas phase equilibrium partial pressure when polymer solutions containing different mass fractions of volatiles reached a saturated state. The effects of temperature, type of volatiles, and polymer viscosity on the gas phase equilibrium partial pressure and Henry's law constant of the volatiles were investigated. The results indicate that, with the increase of temperature and polymer viscosity, the gas phase equilibrium partial pressure and Henry's law constant of volatiles increase. As temperature increases, the solubility of gas in liquid decreases. The relationship between the Henry's law constant and temperature is consistent with the Arrhenius law. In the PDMS-hexane system, the gas phase equilibrium partial pressure and Henry's law constant of n-hexane are higher than those of cyclohexane. The obtained Henry's law constants can be used as a reference for perfecting the devolatilization process and improving the devolatilization effect.

Automated summary

In this study, the Henry's law constant of volatiles in polymer systems was investigated by measuring the gas phase equilibrium partial pressure. The results show that the gas phase equilibrium partial pressure and Henry's law constant of volatiles increase with the increase of temperature and polymer viscosity.