Effect of ZIF-7 doping content on H2/CO2 separation performance of 1,2-bis(triethoxysilyl)ethane-derived organosilica membranes

Abstract

Organosilica membranes with good hydrothermal stability are promising for pre-combustion capture, but the trade-off effect still constrains their gas separation performance. Herein, we prepared hybrid membranes by incorporating ZIF-7 nanoparticles into 1, 2-bis(triethoxysilyl)ethane (BTESE) networks to improve the H2/CO2 permselectivity by the intrinsic properties of nanoparticles. The effect of inorganic fillers was investigated by adjusting the doping content of ZIF-7 nanoparticles. We found that the H2 permeance of hybrid membranes remained at ∼10−6 mol·m−2·s−1·Pa−1, while the H2/CO2 permselectivity decreased with increasing nanoparticle doping content. The E-ZIF-7-0.4 hybrid membrane showed H2 permeance of 1.2 × 10−6 mol·m−2·s−1·Pa−1 and H2/CO2 permselectivity of 21.7. Our results may offer valuable insights into preparing hybrid membranes with optimal nanoparticle doping content.