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Engineering materials containing poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) as the key component undergo hydrolytic degradation, which must be minimized or, at least, controlled. To characterize PVAc hydrolysis quantitatively, the diffusion of acetic acid (HAc) in PVAc, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), unsaturated polyester (UPE), and a UPE/ PVAc blend was studied in detail. The permeability cell earlier developed by the authors was modified here to reduce experimental error. As the diffusion and solubility coefficients of water and HAc in the above materials were measured at different temperatures, a mathematical model was developed, which takes proper account of the combined water and HAc diffusion in PVAc undergoing partial hydrolysis. The model was further validated by the experimental data obtained at 70°C for UPE/PVAc film, simulating a matrix of sheet-molding compounds composite materials.

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