A facile direct spray-coating of Pebax® 1657: Towards large-scale thin-film composite membranes for efficient CO2/N2 separation

High-efficient CO2 capture using membrane separation technology is a promising approach towards environmental redemption in recent years. Thin-film composite (TFC) membrane with selective layer made of CO2-philic materials is the preferred membrane type for industrial-scale application, owing to its high permselectivity and good processability. Herein, we propose a facile direct spray-coating method to fabricate Pebax (R) 1657 thin-film on a porous polysulfone (PSF) substrate. Unlike most conventional multilayer TFC membranes, the unnecessary need for gutter layer in this work greatly simplifies the membrane fabrication process. Pebax (R) 1657 thin films were deposited through direct spraying of the polymer solution containing Pebax (R) 1657 on PSF substrate under ambient temperature. The as-prepared Pebax (R) 1657 TFC membranes showed decent separation performances with CO2 permeance of >200 GPU and CO2/N-2 selectivity of >50 for mixed gas (vol. (CO2)/vol. (N-2) = 20/80) tests. The facile TFC membrane fabrication and good CO2 separation performances make the direct spray coated Pebax (R) 1657 membranes a promising strategy for large-scale CO2 capture applications.

Automated summary

High-efficient CO2 capture using membrane separation technology is a promising approach towards environmental redemption. A facile direct spray-coating method to fabricate Pebax (R) 1657 thin-film on a porous polysulfone (PSF) substrate simplifies the membrane fabrication process. The direct spray coated Pebax (R) 1657 membranes show great potential for large-scale CO2 capture applications with good separation performances.