Films engineered to control the transport of liquids are widely used through society. Examples include barriers in packaging, wound care products, and controlled release coatings in pharmaceutics. When observed at the macroscopic scale such films commonly appear homogeneous, however, a closer look reveals a complex nano- and microstructure that together with the chemical properties of the different domains control the transport properties. In this review we compare and discuss macroscopic transport properties, measured using the straightforward, yet highly powerful technique “modified Ussing chambers”, also denoted side-by-side diffusion cells, for a wide range of structured polymer films and composites. We also discuss and compare the macroscopic observations and conclusions on materials properties with that of lattice Boltzmann simulations of transport properties based on underlying material structure and chemistry. The survey of the field: (i) highlights the use and power of modified Ussing Chambers for determining liquid transport properties of polymer films, (ii) demonstrates the predictability in both directions between macroscopic observations of transport using modified Ussing chambers and structure-based simulations, and (iii) provides experimental and theoretical insights regarding the transport-determining properties of structured polymer films and composites.

设计用来控制液体传输的薄膜已在整个社会广泛使用。示例包括包装中的屏障，伤口护理产品和药物中的控释包衣。当在宏观尺度上观察时，这样的膜通常看起来是均匀的，但是，仔细观察会发现复杂的纳米和微观结构，其与不同区域的化学性质一起控制着传输性质。在这篇综述中，我们比较和讨论了宏观传输特性，这些特性是使用简单但功能强大的技术“改进的Ussing室”（也称为并排扩散池）测量的，适用于各种结构化的聚合物薄膜和复合材料。我们还讨论并比较了基于材料结构和化学性质对材料性质的宏观观察和结论与对传输性质的格子玻尔兹曼模拟的观察结果和结论。该领域的调查：（i）着重介绍了改进的Ussing腔室在确定聚合物薄膜的液体传输性能方面的用途和功能，（ii）展示了使用改进的Ussing腔室和基于结构的模拟进行的宏观传输观测之间在两个方向上的可预测性（iii）提供有关结构化聚合物薄膜和复合材料的决定运输性质的实验和理论见解。