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. 2022 Nov 11;12(11):1129.
doi: 10.3390/membranes12111129.

Interfacial Tailoring of Polyether Sulfone-Modified Silica Mixed Matrix Membranes for CO2 Separation

Hafiz Abdul Mannan  1   2 , Alamin Idris  3 , Rizwan Nasir  4 , Hilmi Mukhtar  1 , Danial Qadir  5 , Humbul Suleman  5 , Abdul Basit  6
Affiliations

Interfacial Tailoring of Polyether Sulfone-Modified Silica Mixed Matrix Membranes for CO2 Separation

Hafiz Abdul Mannan et al. Membranes (Basel). .

Abstract

In this work, in situ polymerization of modified sol-gel silica in a polyether sulfone matrix is presented to control the interfacial defects in organic-inorganic composite membranes. Polyether sulfone polymer and modified silica are used as organic and inorganic components of mixed matrix membranes (MMM). The membranes were prepared with different loadings (2, 4, 6, and 8 wt.%) of modified and unmodified silica. The synthesized membranes were characterized using Field emission electron scanning microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analyzer, and differential scanning calorimetry. The performance of the membranes was evaluated using a permeation cell set up at a relatively higher-pressure range (5-30 bar). The membranes appear to display ideal morphology with uniform distribution of particles, defect-free structure, and absence of interfacial defects such as voids and particle accumulations. Additionally, the CO2/CH4 selectivity of the membrane increased with the increase in the modified silica content. Further comparison of the performance indicates that PES/modified silica MMMs show a promising feature of commercially attractive membranes. Therefore, tailoring the interfacial morphology of the membrane results in enhanced properties and improved CO2 separation performance.

Keywords: interfacial defects; mixed matrix membrane; modified silica; permeation performance.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
FESEM images of MMMs at 1000×.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison of the morphology of (a) Pure PES membrane (S1), (b) PES/unmodified silica MMM (S8), and (c) PES/modified silica MMMs (S11) at 30,000×.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mapping of silicon in PES/unmodified silica MMMs (a) S7 (b) S8 (c) S9 and (d) S10.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Mapping of silicon in PES/modified silica MMMs (a) S11 (b) S12 (c) S13 and (d) S14.
Figure 5
Figure 5
FTIR spectra of PES/modified silica MMMs (a) in fingerprint region (b) detailed spectra from 1120–1300 cm−1 (c) detailed spectra from 3300–3700 cm−1.
Figure 6
Figure 6
TGA thermograms of pure PES membrane and PES/modified silica MMMs.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Comparison of permeability in PES/unmodified silica MMM and PES/modified silica MMMs.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Effect of modified silica loading on ideal selectivity of MMMs.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Effect of feed pressure on CO2 permeability of PES/modified silica MMMs.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Effect of feed pressure on the selectivity of PES/modified silica MMMs.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Comparison of MMMs on Robeson upper bound.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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