Abstract
Amine-containing mixed-matrix membranes incorporated with amino-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (AF-MWNTs) were synthesized for CO2/H2 separation based on the facilitated transport mechanism. AF-MWNTs were chosen primarily as the mechanical reinforcing filler to enhance the membrane stability. At 107 °C and 0.2-MPa feed pressure, the membrane incorporated with 10 wt.% AF-MWNTs showed a CO2 permeability of 3196 Barrers and a CO2/H2 selectivity of 205. At the higher feed pressure of 1.5 MPa, owing to the carrier saturation phenomenon, the same membrane exhibited reduced transport performance with a CO2 permeability of 776 Barrers and a CO2/H2 selectivity of 31. These separation performances at both the low and high feed pressures were well above the theoretical upper bound. Furthermore, the incorporation of 10 wt.% AF-MWNTs led to a significant improvement on membrane stability. The transport performance and selective layer thickness of this membrane maintained for 100 h, which suggested that the incorporation of AF-MWNTs improved the resistance to membrane compaction upon a high feed pressure. Therefore, this work is considered as one of the crucial steps to enable the application of facilitated transport membranes to high-pressure gas processing such as syngas purification.
Highlights
Hydrogen has attracted great attention in recent years, because it is widely considered as a promising clean energy resource, and because there is an enormous demand for the energy and chemical industries [1]
In order to resist the membrane compaction and maintain the gas separation performance under a high feed pressure, a type of improved facilitated transport membranes (FTMs) has been developed by incorporating mechanical reinforcement nanofillers
In the present work, mixed-matrix membranes were synthesized by a solution coating method method was synthesized by a sol-gel reaction between
Summary
Hydrogen has attracted great attention in recent years, because it is widely considered as a promising clean energy resource, and because there is an enormous demand for the energy and chemical industries [1]. In order to resist the membrane compaction and maintain the gas separation performance under a high feed pressure, a type of improved FTM has been developed by incorporating mechanical reinforcement nanofillers. Demonstrated that incorporating 2 wt.% MWNTs in a polyvinylamine (PVAm)/PVA blend could reduce the compaction of the membrane at elevated pressures and high swelling degrees [16]. Elucidated that acid treatment of MWNT could improve its compatibility with PVA matrix, which enhanced the stability and transport performance of the membranes [14]. To further enhance the stability and transport performance of the membrane, it is worthwhile to incorporate a higher loading of AF-MWNTs. By incorporating various amounts of AF-MWNTs, the optimal membrane composition would be obtained, which could possess excellent transport performance along with sufficient resistance to membrane compaction upon high pressure
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