Organic template-free synthesis of SAPO-34 molecular sieve membranes for CO2-CH4 separation

Continuous SAPO-34 molecular sieve membranes have been rapidly synthesized on porous alpha-Al2O3 supports by secondary growth in the absence of organic templates under microwave-assisted heating. The thus obtained SAPO-34 membranes exhibit CO2-CH4 separation selectivity as high as 256, with CO2 permeance higher than 1.68 x 10(-6) mol m(-2) s(-1) Pa-1 at 295 K for a pressure drop of 0.14 MPa.