The permeation behavior of oxygen and carbon dioxide dissolved in water and dried ones was studied by using dried and water-swollen membranes of compostable chitin and chitosan at 25?45 ?C for the circular economy. The permeability coefficients of the dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide of the chitin water-swollen membrane at 25 ?C were 47.7 ? 5.4 × 10-10 and 328 ? 17 × 10-10 cm3(STP)cm/(cm2 s cmHg), respectively, which were 73.4 and 77.0 times higher than the dried gas for the dried chitin. The permeability coefficients of the dissolved oxygen and dissolved carbon dioxide of the chitosan water-swollen membrane at 25 ?C were 36.4 ? 6.9 × 10-10 and 220 ? 15 × 10-10 cm3(STP)cm/(cm2 s cmHg), respectively, which were 36,400 and 220,000 times higher than the dried chitosan gas permeabilities. Dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide seemed to permeate the water portion of the water-swollen membranes, especially in the water that did not interact with the polymer chains (i.e., free water). Additionally, the temperature dependence of the permeability coefficient indicated that for carbon dioxide, the chitin and chitosan membranes, which are the glassy polymers at room temperature, exhibited the same permeation behavior as petroleum-derived rubbery polymer membranes in the water-swollen state. For oxygen, however, the permeation behavior did not match that of petroleum-derived glassy and rubbery polymers.
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