Measurement of water vapor diffusion in nanoscale polymer films by frequency-domain probe beam deflection

Xu Xie, Jordan M. Dennison, Jungwoo Shin, Zhu Diao, David G. Cahill

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We developed an optical pump-probe technique, frequency-domain probe beam deflection (FD-PBD) to measure the diffusion of water vapor in nanoscale polymer films with microsecond temporal resolution and micrometer spatial resolution. We describe the quantitative model of beam deflection for multilayer structures, the experimental approach, and the application of FD-PBD to measure the diffusivity (Dm) of saturated water vapor in various glassy polymer films including polyimide (PI, Dm = 7.0 × 10-13 m2 s-1), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA, Dm = 1.2 × 10-12 m2 s-1), poly-(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP, Dm = 1.7 × 10-12 m2 s-1), and cellulose acetate (CA, Dm = 2.6 × 10-11 m2 s-1), and the piperazine/trimesoyl chloride (PIP/TMC, Dm = 9 × 10-11 m2 s-1) nanofiltration membrane synthesized by interfacial polymerization. The uncertainty of the measurements is typically ≈8%.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number104904
JournalReview of Scientific Instruments
Volume89
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 1 2018

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Instrumentation

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Measurement of water vapor diffusion in nanoscale polymer films by frequency-domain probe beam deflection'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this