Permeability of adhesive resin films.

The purpose of this study was to quantify the permeability of adhesive resin films to water by measuring convective flow across thin films. Cured resin films were prepared with the use of five commercially available adhesive resins and an experimental resin. Two types of resin films were prepared from solvated comonomer blends within each product; resin films made before or after evaporation of solvent (10 s of drying with air-syringe). The permeability of the resin films was measured 30 min or 24 h after polymerization by placing the films in a split-chamber device. Fluid filtration rate through the resin films was measured with the use of 20 cm of water pressure. Osmotically induced water movement was measured by applying hypertonic aqueous solutions of CaCl2 or HEMA to the resin films. The results showed that evaporation of solvent before polymerization reduced the permeability of adhesive resin films, compared to permeabilities obtained without solvent evaporation. The cured adhesive resin films were all permeable to water, but to varying degrees. Copyright 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.