Enhancement of nanohybrid PES-nanosilica performance for CO2/CH4 separation through combined UV irradiation and thermal annealing treatments

Abstract

Energy supply has been one of the world’s main problems. Thus, the development of new energy and renewable energy resources can be a promising solution. As one of the promising energies from biomass is bio-methane obtained from biogas purification. Membrane separation is a potential technology for biogas purification processes. However, it still needs further improvements. The current study is to investigate the effect of UV irradiation and thermal annealing of nanohybrid PES-nano silica membrane and the effect of combined UV irradiation and thermal annealing on the CO2/CH4 separation performance. The nano hybrid PES-nanosilica membrane was fabricated by preparing the dope solution containing PES, NMP, and nanosilica. The membrane was casted using NIPS method and subsequently modified with UV and thermal annealing treatments. UV irradiation and thermal annealing treatments increased the selectivity and permeability of membrane in CO2/CH4 gas separation. Indeed, as the UV irradiation and thermal annealing time span increased, the membrane performance for CO2/CH4 separation also improved. The treatments modified nano hybrid membrane’s layer density and finally improved the membrane separation properties. The combination of UV irradiation and thermal annealing treatments significantly enhanced nanohybrid PES-nano silica performance for CO2/CH4 separation.