Absorption of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by polymer tubing: implications for indoor air and use as a simple gas-phase volatility separation technique

Abstract 10 4 10 9 µ g m - 3 and monitor transmission. For slow-diffusion polymers (e.g., perfluoroalkoxy alkane (PFA) Teflon and nylon), absorption is limited to a thin surface layer, and a single-layer absorption model can fit the data well. For fast-diffusion polymers (e.g., polyethylene and conductive silicone), a larger depth of the polymer is available for diffusion, and a multilayer absorption model is needed. The multilayer model allows fitting solid-phase diffusion coefficients for different materials, which range from 4 × 10 - 9 to 4 × 10 - 7  cm2  s- 1 ∼ C W µ g m - 3) for each absorptive material. We found PFA to be the least absorptive, with C W ∼ 10 5 µ g m - 3, and conductive silicone to be the most absorptive, with C W ∼ 10 13 µ g m - 3. PFA transmits VOCs easily and intermediate-volatility species (IVOCs) with quantifiable delays. In contrast, conductive silicone tubing transmits only the most volatile VOCs, denuding all lower-volatility species. Semi-volatile species (SVOCs) are very difficult to sample quantitatively through any tubing material. We demonstrate a system combining several slow- and fast-diffusion tubing materials that can be used to separate a mixture of VOCs into volatility classes. New conductive silicone tubing contaminated the gas stream with siloxanes, but this effect was reduced 10 000-fold for aged tubing, while maintaining the same absorptive properties. SilcoNert (tested in this work) and Silonite (tested in previous work) steel coatings showed gas transmission that was almost as good as PFA, but since they undergo adsorption, their delay times may be humidity- and concentration-dependent.

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Absorption of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by polymer tubing: implications for indoor air and use as a simple gas-phase volatility separation technique ; volume:17 ; number:5 ; year:2024 ; pages:1545-1559 ; extent:15 ; Atmospheric measurement techniques ; 17, Heft 5 (2024), 1545-1559 (gesamt 15)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Creator: Morris, Melissa A. ; Pagonis, Demetrios ; Day, Douglas A. ; de Gouw, Joost A. ; Ziemann, Paul J. ; Jimenez, Jose L.

Further information

• DOI: 10.5194/amt-17-1545-2024
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2024031403152791484946
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 14.08.2025, 10:53 AM CEST