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Functional packaging materials: factors affecting the capacity and rate of water adsorption in desiccant composites

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Abstract

Ten different polymers were selected as possible matrices for zeolite-containing desiccant composites utilized in the preparation of functional packaging materials. Water uptake was determined at 100 % RH and the results were analyzed to identify factors influencing the capacity and rate of water adsorption. The results showed that the desiccant was able to adsorb a considerable amount of water in its free pores. The adsorption capacities of the composites depended linearly on the amount of desiccant present in the composite, but were independent of the type of polymer used. Water initially diffused rapidly into the composites, but this diffusion slowed over time and also with increasing desiccant content. The latter effect can be explained by the increase in the diffusion path as the zeolite content increases. The initial rate of diffusion depended solely on the specific free volume of the matrix, and this factor also strongly influenced the overall rate of water adsorption. However, the latter characteristic also depended on other factors, such as the dispersion of the desiccant in the matrix. Matrix type and zeolite content must be selected according to the task to be fulfilled; fast adsorption can only be achieved by using polymers with large free volumes.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are indebted to Levente Kovács and Dániel Bedő for their execution of the WVTR measurements. The research on heterogeneous polymer systems was financed by the National Scientific Research Fund of Hungary (OTKA grant nos. K 101124 and K 108934) and the research on functional packaging materials was partly funded by the former Süd-Chemie AG (now Clariant), Business Unit Masterbatches; we appreciate the support very much. One of the authors (KR) is also grateful for receiving a János Bolyai Research Scholarship from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Plastics and Rubber Technology, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, H-1521, Budapest, P.O. Box 91, Hungary

    Csaba Kenyó, Dóra Andrea Kajtár, Károly Renner & Béla Pukánszky

  2. Institute of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, H-1525, Budapest, P.O. Box 17, Hungary

    Csaba Kenyó, Károly Renner & Béla Pukánszky

  3. Clariant Produkte (Deutschland) GmbH, D-81477, Munich, Germany

    Christoph Kröhnke

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  1. Csaba Kenyó
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Correspondence to Károly Renner.

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Kenyó, C., Kajtár, D.A., Renner, K. et al. Functional packaging materials: factors affecting the capacity and rate of water adsorption in desiccant composites. J Polym Res 20, 294 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-013-0294-2

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