scholarly journals Modified Zeolite/Polysulfone Mixed Matrix Membrane for Enhanced CO2/CH4 Separation

Membranes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 630
Author(s):  
Lanisha Devi Anbealagan ◽  
Tiffany Yit Siew Ng ◽  
Thiam Leng Chew ◽  
Yin Fong Yeong ◽  
Siew Chun Low ◽  
...  

In recent years, mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) have received worldwide attention for their potential to offer superior gas permeation and separation performance involving CO2 and CH4. However, fabricating defect-free MMMs still remains as a challenge where the incorporation of fillers into MMMs has usually led to some issues including formation of undesirable interfacial voids, which may jeopardize the gas separation performance of the MMMs. This current work investigated the incorporation of zeolite RHO and silane-modified zeolite RHO (NH2–RHO) into polysulfone (PSf) based MMMs with the primary aim of enhancing the membrane’s gas permeation and separation performance. The synthesized zeolite RHO, NH2–RHO, and fabricated membranes were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, Fourier transform infrared-attenuated total reflection (FTIR-ATR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and field emission scanning election microscopy (FESEM). The effects of zeolite loading in the MMMs on the CO2/CH4 separation performance were investigated. By incorporating 1 wt% of zeolite RHO into the MMMs, the CO2 permeability and ideal CO2/CH4 selectivity slightly increased by 4.2% and 2.7%, respectively, compared to that of a pristine PSf membrane. On the other hand, a significant enhancement of 45% in ideal CO2/CH4 selectivity was attained by MMMs incorporated with 2 wt% of zeolite NH2-RHO compared to a pristine PSf membrane. Besides, all MMMs incorporated with zeolite NH2-RHO displayed higher ideal CO2/CH4 selectivity than that of the MMMs incorporated with zeolite RHO. By incorporating 1–3 wt% zeolite NH2-RHO into PSf matrix, MMMs without interfacial voids were successfully fabricated. Consequently, significant enhancement in ideal CO2/CH4 selectivity was enabled by the incorporation of zeolite NH2–RHO into MMMs.

Membranes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 693
Author(s):  
Fei Guo ◽  
Bingzhang Li ◽  
Rui Ding ◽  
Dongsheng Li ◽  
Xiaobin Jiang ◽  
...  

Mixing a polymer matrix and nanofiller to prepare a mixed matrix membrane (MMM) is an effective method for enhancing gas separation performance. In this work, a unique UiO-66-decorated halloysite nanotubes composite material (UiO-66@HNT) was successfully synthesized via a solvothermal method and dispersed into the Pebax-1657 matrix to prepare MMMs for CO2/N2 separation. A remarkable characteristic of this MMM was that the HNT lumen provided the highway for CO2 diffusion due to the unique affinity of UiO-66 for CO2. Simultaneously, the close connection of the UiO-66 layer on the external surface of HNTs created relatively continuous pathways for gas permeation. A suite of microscopy, diffraction, and thermal techniques was used to characterize the morphology and structure of UiO-66@HNT and the membranes. As expected, the embedding UiO-66@HNT composite materials significantly improved the separation performances of the membranes. Impressively, the as-obtained membrane acquired a high CO2 permeability of 119.08 Barrer and CO2/N2 selectivity of 76.26. Additionally, the presence of UiO-66@HNT conferred good long-term stability and excellent interfacial compatibility on the MMMs. The results demonstrated that the composite filler with fast transport pathways designed in this study was an effective strategy to enhance gas separation performance of MMMs, verifying its application potential in the gas purification industry.


2020 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Noor Maizura Ismail ◽  
Nur Afaliza Yusaini ◽  
Jannah Jafa ◽  
S. M. Anisuzzaman ◽  
Chiam Chel Ken ◽  
...  

Gas separation by using membrane-based technology is one of the rising technologies used in the industry. It has many advantages such as low in cost and energy consumption. However, this technology is limited because of the "trade-off" exists between permeability and selectivity of the membrane. Thus, in this study, an inorganic filler, halloysite nanotube is modified with 3-aminopropyl(triethoxysilane) and then incorporated into the polysulfone polymer and the performance of the mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) is investigated. MMMs were analyzed by using SEM, FTIR, tensile and gas permeation tests which studied the morphological differences, mechanical strength, and membrane permeability and selectivity towards CO2 and CH4 respectively. The performance of the MMMs was compared with neat membrane and MMMs with unmodified HNTs. SEM results show an increase of 111% on the thickness of the dense skin layer of MMMs with APTES-modified HNTs compared to the neat membrane and the MMMs with unmodified HNTs. Elongation at break for MMMs with 3-APTES-modified HNTs also increased to 24.22%. The gas separation performance of the MMMs with 3-APTES modified HNTs shows an overall increase of 25.37% in the membrane selectivity compared to MMMs with unmodified HNTs while when coating is done, the selectivity of the MMMs with 3-APTES modified HNTs shows an increase from 0.845 to 10.158 for a pressure of 2 bar showing that coating helps in increasing the selectivity of the membrane.


Membranes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 194
Author(s):  
Xiuxiu Ren ◽  
Masakoto Kanezashi ◽  
Meng Guo ◽  
Rong Xu ◽  
Jing Zhong ◽  
...  

A new polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) designed with eight –(CH2)3–NH–(CH2)2–NH2 groups (PNEN) at its apexes was used as nanocomposite uploading into 1,2-bis(triethoxysilyl)ethane (BTESE)-derived organosilica to prepare mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) for gas separation. The mixtures of BTESE-PNEN were uniform with particle size of around 31 nm, which is larger than that of pure BTESE sols. The characterization of thermogravimetric (TG) and gas permeance indicates good thermal stability. A similar amine-contained material of 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) was doped into BTESE to prepare hybrid membranes through a copolymerized strategy as comparison. The pore size of the BTESE-PNEN membrane evaluated through a modified gas-translation model was larger than that of the BTESE-APTES hybrid membrane at the same concentration of additions, which resulted in different separation performance. The low values of Ep(CO2)-Ep(N2) and Ep(N2) for the BTESE-PNEN membrane at a low concentration of PNEN were close to those of copolymerized BTESE-APTES-related hybrid membranes, which illustrates a potential CO2 separation performance by using a mixed matrix membrane strategy with multiple amine POSS as particles.


REAKTOR ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tutuk Djoko Kusworo ◽  
Ahmad Fauzi Ismail ◽  
Azeman Mustafa ◽  
Kang Li

The permeation rates of O2, N2, CO2 and CH4 has been studied for polyimide-polyethersulfone (PI/PES) blends-zeolite mixed matrix membranes synthesized in our laboratory. The study investigated the effect of zeolite loading and different zeolite type on the gas separation performance of these mixed matrix membranes. Frequency shifts and absorption intensity changes in the FTIR spectra of the PI/PES blends as compared with those of the pure polymers indicate that there is a mixing of polymer blends at the molecular level. Differential scanning calorimetry measurements of pure and PI/PES blends membranes have showed one unique glass transition temperature that supports the miscible character of the PI/PES mixture. The PI/PES-zeolite 4A mixed matrix membrane with 25 wt % zeolite loading produced the highest O2/N2 and CO2/CH4 selectivity of around 7.45 and 46.05, respectively.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 650 ◽  
Author(s):  
Triyanda Gunawan ◽  
Retno Puji Rahayu ◽  
Rika Wijiyanti ◽  
Wan Norharyati Wan Salleh ◽  
Nurul Widiastuti

Mixed Matrix Membranes (MMMs) which consist of 0.3 wt.% Zeolite-Carbon Composite (ZCC) dispersed in BTDA-TDI/MDI (P84 co-polyimide) have been prepared through phase inversion method by using N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) as a solvent. Membranes were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR). Membrane performance was measured by a single gas permeation of CO2 and CH4. The maximum permeability of CO2 and CH4, which up to 12.67 and 6.03 Barrer, respectively. P84/ZCC mixed matrix membrane also showed a great enhancement in ideal selectivity of CO2/CH4 2.10 compared to the pure P84 co-polyimide membrane.


2020 ◽  
Vol 307 ◽  
pp. 258-263
Author(s):  
Nabilah Fazil ◽  
Hilmi Mukhtar ◽  
Dzeti Farhah Mohshim ◽  
Rizwan Nasir

Mixed matrix membrane (MMM), a developing research area, is a membrane formed by incorporating fillers in the polymeric membrane to enhance gas separation performance. In this study, MMMs comprised of blend rubbery block copolymers of polyether block amide (Pebax-1657) with a glassy polyethersulfone (PES) polymer and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were synthesized by dry phase inversion method and explored further by gas permeability test. Pebax-1657/PES/MWCNTs membrane resulted in an increased permeability as well as CO2/CH4 selectivity. The Pebax-1657/PES polymer blend MMM with 10wt% of MWCNTs has shown the most superior performance of CO2 permeability, CH4 permeability and CO2/CH4 selectivity in comparison with the pure Pebax-1657 resulted in 66.3% and 11.6% difference respectively.


Polymers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1732 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sie Hao Ding ◽  
Tiffany Yit Siew Ng ◽  
Thiam Leng Chew ◽  
Pei Ching Oh ◽  
Abdul Latif Ahmad ◽  
...  

Mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) separation is a promising technology for gas permeation and separation involving carbon dioxide (CO2). However, finding a suitable type of filler for the formation of defect-free MMMs with enhancement in gas permeability remains a challenge. Current study focuses on synthesis of KIT-6 silica and followed by the incorporation of KIT-6 silica as filler into polysulfone (PSF) polymer matrix to fabricate MMMs, with filler loadings of 0–8 wt %. The effect of KIT-6 incorporation on the properties of the fabricated MMMs was evaluated via different characterization techniques. The MMMs were investigated for gas permeability and selectivity with pressure difference of 5 bar at 25 °C. KIT-6 with typical rock-like morphology was synthesized. Incorporation of 2 wt % of KIT-6 into PSF matrix produced MMMs with no void. When KIT-6 loadings in the MMMs were increased from 0 to 2 wt %, the CO2 permeability increased by ~48%, whereas the ideal CO2/CH4 selectivity remained almost constant. However, when the KIT-6 loading in PSF polymer matrix was more than 2 wt %, the formation of voids in the MMMs increased the CO2 permeability but sacrificed the ideal CO2/CH4 selectivity. In current study, KIT-6 was found to be potential filler for PSF matrix under controlled KIT-6 loading for gas permeation.


2011 ◽  
Vol 364 ◽  
pp. 272-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.M. Sanip ◽  
A.F. Ismail ◽  
P.S. Goh ◽  
M.N.A. Norrdin ◽  
T. Soga ◽  
...  

Mixed matrix membranes (MMM) combine useful molecular sieving properties of inorganic fillers with the desirable mechanical and processing properties of polymers. The current trend in polymeric membranes is the incorporation of filler-like nanoparticles to improve the separation performance. Most MMM have shown higher gas permeabilities and improved gas selectivities compared to the corresponding pure polymer membranes. Carbon nanotubes based mixed matrix membrane was prepared by the solution casting method in which the functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (f-MWNTs) were embedded into the polyimide membrane and the resulting membranes were characterized. The effect of nominal MWNTs content between 0.5 and 1.0 wt% on the gas separation properties were looked into. The as-prepared membranes were characterized for their morphology using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The morphologies of the MMM also indicated that at 0.7 % loading of f-MWNTs, the structures of the MMM showed uniform finger-like structures which have facilitated the fast gas transport through the polymer matrix. It may also be concluded that addition of open ended and shortened MWNTs to the polymer matrix can improve its permeability by increasing diffusivity through the MWNTs smooth cavity.


Author(s):  
Z. Jamian ◽  
M. H. Tajuddin ◽  
N. Yusof ◽  
F. E. Che Othman

This study was performed primarily to investigate the effect of activated carbon nanofiber (ACNF) on carbon dioxide and methane separation performance of mixed matrix membrane (MMM). In this study, polysulfone (PSf)/ACNF mixed matrix membranes was fabricated using dry/wet inversion technique. The effect of PSf concentration and ACNF loading on the performance of mixed matrix membrane in terms of permeability and selectivity of CO2/CH4 gas separation was observed. The fabricated flat sheet mixed matrix membranes were characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis. From the SEM observations, it shows that sponge like structures images were observed upon the addition of ACNFs in the PSf/ACNF membranes was slowly decreased due to increasing weight percentage of ACNF. FT-IR result indicating the presence of carboxyl group in MMM at wavelength 1750 cm-1. Meanwhile, the MMMs were further tested to pure permeation test using pure CO2 and CH4 gas, the CO2 permeance improved and the selectivity of CO2/CH4 increased after the addition of ACNFs. 


Membranes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chong Yang Chuah ◽  
Junghyun Lee ◽  
Juha Song ◽  
Tae-Hyun Bae

Nanocrystalline UiO-66 and its derivatives (containing -NH2, -Br, -(OH)2) were developed via pre-synthetic functionalization and incorporated into a polyimide membrane to develop a mixed-matrix membrane (MMM) for CO2/N2 separation. Incorporation of the non-functionalized UiO-66 nanocrystals into the polyimide membrane successfully improved CO2 permeability, with a slight decrease in CO2/N2 selectivity, owing to its large accessible surface area. The addition of other functional groups further improved the CO2/N2 selectivity of the polymeric membrane, with UiO-66-NH2, UiO-66-Br, and UiO-66-(OH)2 demonstrating improvements of 12%, 4%, and 17%, respectively. Further evaluation by solubility–diffusivity analysis revealed that the functionalized UiO-66 in MMMs can effectively increase CO2 diffusivity while suppressing N2 sorption, thus, resulting in improved CO2/N2 selectivity. Such results imply that the structural tuning of UiO-66 by the incorporation of various functional groups is an effective strategy to improve the CO2 separation performance of MMMs.


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