GAS PERMEATION PROPERTIES OF ORGANOSILICON-CONTAINING POLYSTYRENES

para-Substituted polystyrenes that possess one to four Si atoms in eac h substituent were prepared using our original synthetic methods. The gas permeation properties of these polymer membranes were investigated in detail. With an increasing Si content in the polymer membrane, it was determined that the solubility of oxygen increased. The para-subst ituted polystyrenes with a branched substituent at the Lu-position sho wed higher permeability than those of the non-branched ones. With a hi gher glass transition temperature (T-g) of the membrane, a higher diff usion constant of oxygen was obtained. Consequently, poly[4-{bis(trime thylsilyl )methyl]styrene] which had the highest T-g among the membran es investigated in this study, showed the highest oxygen permeation co efficient (37-45 Barrer). The activation energy of the oxygen permeati on in this membrane was 3.0 kcal/mol.