Intensification of O2/N2 separation by novel magnetically aligned carbonyl iron powders/polysulfone magnetic mixed matrix membranes

In this research, novel magnetic mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) are developed using polysulfone (PSf) containing of carbonyl iron powders (CIPs) for oxygen/nitrogen separation. In order to create preferential permeation pathways for oxygen across the MMMs, the membrane formation is accomplished with the aid of an external magnetic field. The required magnetic force to control particle dispersion within the membrane is simulated using ANSYS Maxwell software. Scanning electron microscopy images reveal that CIPs are aligned in the membrane matrix according to the direction of applied magnetic field; while successful synthesis of magnetic membranes is confirmed by vibrating sample magnetometer. In addition, a novel gas permeation unit is constructed to investigate the effect of CIP loading (1 - 10 wt.%) on the gas separation performance of MMMs in the presence of various magnetic fields. The magnetic field -aligned CIP/PSf membranes present higher permeability and lower selectivity than both un-aligned CIP/PSf and neat PSf membranes. In addition, O-2 permeability and (O-2/N-2) selectivity of magnetic field -aligned CIP/PSf membranes are considerably improved by applying the magnetic field during permeation tests. In the presence of 570 m T magnetic field, O-2 permeability and selectivity of MMMs containing 10 wt.% CIP improved by 436 % and 41 % respectively, compared to the pure PSf membrane.