Hybrid organic-inorganic membranes with specific transport properties

Abstract

Abstract Organic-inorganic hybrid materials offer specific advantages for the preparation of artificial membranes exhibiting high selectivity and flux, as well as a good thermal and chemical resistance. Processing of these membranes is mainly based on the sol–gel process, for which the synthesis of hybrid materials is undoubtedly one of the major advances. The specific advantages of this method (low temperature chemical process, large variety of material precursors, material structure adaptability, and coating process possibilities) are described here in relation with transport mechanisms in solid matrices, as a very suitable way to design and synthesize membranes with improved performance. New results on membranes specially designed for gas separation, as well as recently published preparation methods for facilitated transport membranes or chemical sensing layers are reported as an illustration of hybrid membranes interest.