Molecular dynamics simulation of diffusion of O2 and CO2 in blends of amorphous poly(ethylene terephthalate) and related polyesters

The diffusion of small molecules through polymers is important in many areas of polymer science, such as gas barrier and separation membrane materials, polymeric foams, and in the processing and properties of polymers. Molecular dynamics simulation techniques have been applied to study the diffusion of oxygen and carbon dioxide as small molecule penetrants in models polyester blends of bulk amorphous poly(ethylene terephthalate) and related aromatic polyesters. A bulk amorphous configuration with periodic boundary conditions was generated into a unit cell whose dimensions were determined for each of the simulated polyester blends in the cell having the experimental density. The diffusion coefficients for O2 and CO2 were determined via NVE molecular dynamics simulations using the Dreiding 2.21 molecular mechanics force field over a range of temperatures (300, 500 and 600 K) using up to 40 ns simulation time. We have focussed on the influence of the temperature, polymer dynamics, density and free volume distribution on the diffusion properties. Correlation of diffusion coefficients with free volume distribution was found.