Insights into the design of nineteen-channel perovskite hollow fiber membrane and its oxygen transport behaviour

The brittleness of perovskite hollow fiber membrane limits its large-scale application. A high mechanical strength Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Fe0.2O3-delta nineteen-channel hollow fiber has been successfully prepared by a combined phase inversion and one-step thermal processing sintering technique. The crystalline structure, morphology, mechanical strength, oxygen permeation fluxes, transportation behavior and catalytic membrane reactor performance of the nineteen-channel hollow fiber were investigated systematically. The hollow fiber membrane of this configuration brings high mechanical strength (50.4 +/- 1.3 N in 50 mm) reaching about 60 times that of the reported perovskite single-channel hollow fiber membranes and increased oxygen permeation(7.05 mL min(-1)cm(-2) at 900 degrees C). Multiple types of oxygen transport paths were demonstrated and proved to have different contributions to the oxygen permeation flux. This new configuration will be easily exploited to build oxygen separator or membrane reactor, showing a prospect of commercialization.