Thermally rearranged nanofibrous composite membranes for carbon dioxide absorption and stripping

Abstract

We develop thermally rearranged (TR) nanofibre membranes for the capture of CO2 using membrane gas absorption. The porous nature of the electrospun nanofibre membranes and the hydrophobicity of the TR polymers provide ideal properties for both CO2 absorption and stripping. The use of thermal rearrangement after fabricating the nanofibre composite structures (TR-NFM) also interconnects the nanofibres and greatly improves mechanical strength. Surface hydrophobicity is further increased by electrospraying of nanoparticles onto the nanofibre membrane surface to increase roughness (TR-NCM), leading to higher breakthrough pressures and stable CO2 stripping performance for up to 270 h at 100 °C without membrane wetting. The TR-NFM and TR-NCM membranes both show an order of magnitude increase in CO2 absorption flux compared to a standard polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane, offering strong potential for commercial application.