Novel process for preparation of metal-polymer composite membranes for hydrogen separation

Abstract

In the present work, a new preparation method for metal-polymer composite materials for hydrogen separation which consist of hydride-forming intermetallic compound LaNi5 and polyethylene was developed. According to this technique, the mechanical activation of the initial powder mixtures was employed to provide good interface between the phases. A series of composite membranes with various filler concentrations was synthesized and characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. The gas transport properties of the obtained materials in relation to H2, O2, N2, CO2 and CH4 were tested. The results indicate that the addition of the hydride-forming intermetallic compound to the barrier polymer leads to significantly improved selectivity with respect to hydrogen. The proposed method can be considered as a promising approach to producing of high performance composite membranes for hydrogen separation.