Membranes for solubility-based gas separation applications

The use of membranes in gas separations has grown at a very rapid pace in recent times. One particularly interesting application of gas separation with membranes is the removal of dilute heavy organics from light gas streams such as the removal of solvents from the exhaust of different process industries. For such applications separations are achieved using the solubility-selective mode in which preferential permeation of the heavier organic molecules is desired. This article aims to review some of the recent advancements in the field of membranes for solubility-based gas separations. The development of different inorganic, polymeric and hybrid membrane materials in light of the opportunities and challenges are presented. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.