ZIF-8 Incorporated in an Optimized Pebax®1657/PES Membrane for Pure and Mixed CO2/CH4 Gas Separation

Synthesized ZIF-8 (zeolitic imidazolate framework-8) nanoparticles were embedded in Pebax (R) 1657/polyethersulfone (PES) to construct a mixed-matrix membrane. The membrane was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and tensile tests. The separation performance of CO2 from CH4 and N-2 was also measured at feed pressures of 4, 8, and 12 bar at room temperature. The results indicated that adding nanoparticles and glassy polymer into the Pebax (R) 1657 matrix led to improved thermal and mechanical stabilities of the membrane and an 88 % increase in CO2 permeance (at 30 wt % ZIF-8 in Pebax (R) 1657/PES-10 %). The Pebax (R) 1657/PES/ZIF-8 membrane exceeded Robeson's trade-off upper bound.

Automated summary

By embedding synthesized ZIF-8 nanoparticles and glassy polymer into the Pebax (R) 1657 matrix, the thermal and mechanical stabilities of the membrane were improved, resulting in an 88% increase in CO2 permeance.