title: Effect of polymer cross-links on oxygen diffusion in glassy PMMA films.
abstract: Oxygen diffusion coefficients, D, have been measured in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) films containing small amounts of a cinnamic acid derived cross-linker. In the technique employed, the time evolution of oxygen sorption into the film was monitored using the phosphorescence of singlet oxygen as a spectroscopic probe. Although the effect of adding up to 1 mol % of the cross-linker is clearly manifested in the molecular weight and T(g) of these samples, values of D are only moderately influenced. Nevertheless, a systematic decrease in the value of D is discernible as the extent of cross-linking is increased. Although it is reasonable to expect that, in a glassy polymer, cross-linking should not significantly perturb the local motions and confined changes in free volume that influence the translational motion of a small penetrant such as oxygen, our data indicate that even small amounts of a cross-linker can, nevertheless, have a noticeable and potentially meaningful effect. Although UV irradiation of the polymer films disrupts the cinnamic acid derived cross-linker via a [2 + 2] cycloreversion reaction, the photoinduced changes observed in D appear, rather, to reflect degradation reactions in the PMMA-based polymer.
authors.affiliation: Center for Oxygen Microscopy and Imaging and Centre for DNA Nanotechnology, Department of Chemistry, University of Aarhus, Langelandsgade 140, Arhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klinger
authors.forename: Lars Poulsen
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Tolbod
authors.forename: Kurt V
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Gothelf
authors.forename: Peter R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Ogilby
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D002934:Cinnamates / Q000737:chemistry; D004058:Diffusion; D005898:Glass / Q000737:chemistry*; D010100:Oxygen / Q000737:chemistry*; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate / Q000737:chemistry*; D013053:Spectrophotometry; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
chemical_list: D002934:Cinnamates; C029010:cinnamic acid; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate; D010100:Oxygen