Ultra-thin MFI membranes with different Si/Al ratios for CO2/CH4 separation

Abstract

Abstract Ultra-thin MFI zeolite membranes with different Si/Al ratios (152, 47 and 26) were prepared on graded α-alumina supports in the presence of organic template molecules and evaluated for separation of equimolar CO2/CH4 mixtures at temperatures from 315 to 249 K. The thicknesses of all membranes were less than 500 nm and permporometry showed that the number and size of defects were low for the two membranes with the highest Si/Al ratio (152 and 47). The membrane with the lowest Si/Al ratio (26) also had low amounts of defects in the mesopore range, but did have a few macropore defects. All membranes showed very high CO2 permeances in the entire temperature range studied and the permeances increased with increasing temperature. The CO2 permances were also correlated to the Si/Al ratio of the membranes. The higher permeances was observed for membranes with higher Si/Al ratio. The highest observed CO2 permeance was 142 × 10−7 mol s−1 m−2 Pa−1 at room temperature for the membrane with Si/Al = 152. The separation factor, on the other hand, increased with decreasing temperature for the two membranes with the highest Si/Al ratio (152 and 47), but for the membrane with a Si/Al ratio of 26, the separation factor went through a maximum at ca. 270 K. The highest separation factor observed was 7.1 at 249 K for the membrane with Si/Al = 47. These observations are consistent with an adsorption controlled separation mechanism.