Oxygen sorption and transport in amorphous poly(ethylene furanoate)

Oxygen transport in amorphous poly(ethylene furanoate) (PEF) was studied at various temperatures using complementary permeation and pressure-decay sorption techniques. A significant reduction in oxygen permeability of ∼11× was observed at 35 °C for PEF compared to poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), and is attributed primarily to reduction in chain segment mobility for PEF resulting from a hindrance of furan ring flipping. A custom-built high accuracy sorption system allowed determination of temperature-dependent so-called dual-mode parameters that have not been reported for oxygen in any polyester. Energetic parameters, i.e. the enthalpy of sorption and activation energies of diffusion and permeation, were measured for oxygen in PEF and discussed in the context of PET and related polyesters. The current work presents the first detailed study of penetrant transport in PEF, which demonstrates the impressive performance enhancements of PEF compared to PET.