Thermally stable and moisture responsive carboxymethyl chitosan/dendrimer/hydrotalcite membrane for CO2 separation

The expedition of CO2 separation technology via mixed matrix membranes (MMM) is highly recomendable in this recent stage of the energy crisis and environmental degradation. This work reports the appreciable effect offered by the synergistic combination of poly (amidoamine) dendrimer (PAMAM) and hydrotalcite (HT) towards CO2 separation performance. PAMAM and HT have been loaded to carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC) to fabricate a thermally stable MMM which was assessed by TGA isotherm. Further, using various spectroscopic and microscopic techniques the membrane has been characterized. The moisture retention behavior of the membrane at a different temperature has been investigated. Later, the CO2 separation study was accomplished for the MMM varying the temperature from 60 degrees C to 110 degrees C. The membrane containing 10 wt (wt.) % PAMAM and 1 wt % HT exhibited the CO2 permeance as similar to 123 GPU with the CO2/N-2 selectivity similar to 67 at 90 degrees C pertaining to a constant water flow ratio of 2.33 (sweep/feed).