Permeability to solutes of polyamide capsules with different chemical compositions

The permeability of nylon capsule membranes with different chemical compositions to solutes was studied at different temperatures. The rate of solute permeation through the membrane decreased with increasing hydrophobicity of the membrane in the temperature range of 293-323 K. Increase in the size of permeant molecules caused a decreased in their rate of permeation through all capsule membranes at all temperatures studied. Higher permeation rates were observed for all permeants at higher temperatures. The activation energy of permeation was evaluated for the permeants from the Arrhenius plots of their permeation data. From the values of activation energy evaluated the solute permeation through the nylon capsule membranes was demonstrated to proceed by a pore mechanism.