Sometimes it is hard to understand the practical application for a research technique like Dynamic Vapour Sorbtion. Over the next couple of months I would like to share some practical examples. We start with Diffusion and Permeability. These aspects is of use in a wide range of application like pharmaceuticals,food, packaging to just name a couple of examples.

Pharmaceuticals 

Blister packaging systems are often used as a primary barrier to the ingress of moisture into moisture sensitive products such as those used in the pharmaceutical industry. These blister packaging systems often show substantial differences in barrier properties to the unformed polymer film due to localised defects/stresses in the polymer material as a result of the forming process. Their diffusion and permeability performance can be studied in great detail using the DVS method.

Application Note 12: Absolute Measurement of Moisture Diffusion into Blister Packaging Systems |This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Food

The measurement of diffusion and permeation of vapours and liquids through real packaging devices is important for the development of both pharmaceutical and food packaging solutions. Typical requirements of these packaging systems are that the ingress and/or loss of moisture over long storage periods must be kept to a minimum in order to prolong the shelf life of the product.

Application Note 07: Measurement of Diffusion of Liquids and Vapors Through  Polymer Packaging | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Packaging

Moisture diffusion in thin polymer films is of interest to a variety of different industrial sectors including packaging materials and membrane technologies. The method used to calculate the diffusion constants for the thin films utilises diffusion equations first employed by Crank and Park. A thin film sample is suspended in the DVS and the sorption kinetics for a series of steps in humidity are recorded in the usual manner.

Application Note 30: Calculation of Diffusion Constants in Thin Polymer Films using DVS | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.