Organosilica Membrane with Ionic Liquid Properties for Separation of Toluene/H₂ Mixture.

Yuichiro Hirota,Yohei Maeda,Manabu Miyamoto,Norikazu Nishiyama,Yusuke Yamamoto

doi:10.3390/ma10080901

Abstract

In this study, we present a new concept in chemically stabilized ionic liquid membranes: an ionic liquid organosilica (ILOS) membrane, which is an organosilica membrane with ionic liquid-like properties. A silylated ionic liquid was used as a precursor for synthesis. The permselectivity, permeation mechanism, and stability of the membrane in the H2/toluene binary system were then compared with a supported ionic liquid membrane. The membrane showed a superior separation factor of toluene/H2 (>17,000) in a binary mixture system based on a solution–diffusion mechanism with improved durability over the supported ionic liquid membrane.

Highlights

IntroductionOrganic chemical hydrides (OCH), which are hydrogenated aromatic hydrocarbons (e.g., methylcyclohexane), offer many advantages, such as high H2 content and an easy transporting system [1]
Organic chemical hydrides (OCH), which are hydrogenated aromatic hydrocarbons, offer many advantages, such as high H2 content and an easy transporting system [1].In the OCH process, the technology of H2 separation and purification from the ternary mixture ofH2 /aromatic hydrocarbon/cycloalkane is one of the key issues in producing pure H2
We demonstrated the advanced properties of an ionic liquid organo-silica (ILOS) membrane with respect to toluene/H2 separation

Summary

Introduction

Organic chemical hydrides (OCH), which are hydrogenated aromatic hydrocarbons (e.g., methylcyclohexane), offer many advantages, such as high H2 content and an easy transporting system [1]. From the viewpoint of separation efficiency, hydrocarbon-selective membranes are desired in the OCH process, because concentrations of aromatic hydrocarbons and cycloalkanes are lower than that of. Hydrocarbon-selective membranes with high separation performance are required to produce high-purity H2. A supported ionic liquid membrane (SILM) was prepared by an impregnation method, and subjected to the separation in the OCH process for the first time [10]. Our SILM showed high separation factors of C6 H6 /H2 and C6 H12 /H2 in the ternary system, showing excellent potential as a technology for H2 purification in the OCH process by removing aromatic hydrocarbons and cycloalkanes simultaneously from the ternary system. ILs optimization was required to fill the nanofiltration pore with silylated ILs in order to improve theirin order to improve their separation performance.

Experimental

Membrane Preparation

ATR-IR Spectra of Silylated Ionic Liquids

N in ourSipmimTf polycondensed

Time courses of toluene and H

Conclusions