Measurement and prediction of H2O outgassing kinetics from silica-filled polydimethylsiloxane TR55 and S5370

The isoconversional technique was employed for the measurement and prediction of H2O outgassing kinetics from silica-filled polydimethylsiloxane TR55 and S5370 in a vacuum or dry environment. Isoconversional analysis indicates that the energy barrier for H2O release from TR55 and S5370 is an increasing function of the fractional H2O release. This can be interpreted as the release of H2O from physisorbed water and then chemisorbed water with decreasing OH density from the surfaces of the embedded silica particles. Model-independent predictions of H2O outgassing based on the measured kinetics follow the trend of actual isothermal outgassing at elevated temperatures and suggest gradual outgassing in dry/vacuum storage over many decades at low temperatures for both TR55 and S5370.