Molecular Dynamics Simulation on the Diffusion of Flavor, O<sub>2</sub> and H<sub>2</sub>O Molecules in LDPE Film

The diffusion of five flavor organic molecules, including D-limonene, myrcene, ethyl hexanoate, 2-nonanone, and linalool in low density polyethylene (LDPE) film were investigated by combined experimental and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation studies. The diffusion coefficients derived from the pred...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Binqing Sun, Lixin Lu, Yong Zhu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-10-01
Series:Materials
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/12/21/3515
Description
Summary:The diffusion of five flavor organic molecules, including D-limonene, myrcene, ethyl hexanoate, 2-nonanone, and linalool in low density polyethylene (LDPE) film were investigated by combined experimental and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation studies. The diffusion coefficients derived from the prediction model, experimental determination, and MD simulation were compared, and the related microscopic diffusion mechanism was investigated. The effects of the presence of the flavor organic molecules on the diffusion of O<sub>2</sub> and H<sub>2</sub>O in polyethylene (PE) were also studied by MD simulation. Results show that: The diffusion of five flavor molecules in LDPE is well followed to Fick&#8217;s second law by the immersion experiment; MD simulation indicates the dual mode diffusion mechanism of the flavor molecules is in LDPE; the diffusion coefficients from MD simulation are close to those from the experimental determination, but are slightly larger than those values; the presence of the flavor organic molecules hinders the diffusion of O<sub>2</sub> and H<sub>2</sub>O, which can be well explained from the fraction of free volume (<i>FFV</i>) and interaction energy calculation results derived from MD simulation.
ISSN:1996-1944