Polymer Permeability

Polymers are permeable, whilst ceramics, glasses and metals are gener­ ally impermeable. This may seem a disadvantage in that polymeric containers may allow loss or contamination of their contents and aggressive substances such as water will diffuse into polymeric struc­ tures such as adhesive joints or fibre-reinforced composites and cause weakening. However, in some cases permeability is an adva...