Abstract
A series of copolymer membranes of 2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA) with selected hydrophobic monomers were prepared without crosslinking agents. The equilibrium water content, the partition coefficient, and the permeability of the solutes such as urea, methylurea, 1,3-di-methylurea, and acetamide via these membranes were measured. The partition coefficient data show that as the hydrophobicity of solutes increased, the partition of solutes were dictated by hydrophobic interaction between solute and polymer matrix. Diffusion coefficients obtained in these experiments decrease as the water content of polymer membrane decreases. This decrease is blunt as the excess heat capacities, ${\phi}C^0_p$ (excess) in aqueous solution at infinite dilution of solute increases. To investigate the relationship between water content and diffusion coefficient, the results of the diffusion experiments were examined in light of a free-volume model of diffusive transport. The remarkable increase of urea mobility in the polymer network containing relatively larger bulk water can be considered as water structure breaking effect.