Molecular transport behaviour of organic solvents through halloysite nanotubes filled ethylene–vinyl acetate copolymer

Abstract

The transport behaviour of three organic solvents (benzene, toluene and xylene) through halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) filled ethylene–vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer composites have been investigated in the temperature range 303–323 K. The effects of HNTs loading, nature of solvent and temperature on the transport behaviour of solvents through composites were studied. It has been observed that all the systems follow a Fickian mode of transport on increasing temperature. The solvent uptake and sorption coefficient decreases with the increase in halloysite loading while diffusion coefficients and permeation coefficients were found to be dependent on the concentration of filler. The percentage of bounds rubber content and swelling ratio decreases up to 7.5 phr filler content, whereas above 7.5 phr filler loading were found to be increased due to poor dispersion of halloysite in EVA copolymer matrix. The transport behaviour of three organic solvents was further validated by their crosslink density values. The thermodynamic parameters such as enthalpy, entropy and free energy of sorption were evaluated. The positive values of free energy indicate the non-spontaneity of the sorption of HNTs filled EVA in aromatic solvents at 303 K.