Gas Separation Performance of Carbon Molecular Sieve Membranes Based on 6FDA-mPDA/DABA (3:2) Polyimide

Wulin Qiu, Kuang Zhang, Fuyue Stephanie Li, Ke Zhang, William J. Koros

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

95 Scopus citations

Abstract

6FDA-mPDA/DABA (3:2) polyimide was synthesized and characterized for uncross-linked, thermally crosslinked, and carbon molecular sieve (CMS) membranes. The membranes were characterized with thermogravimetric analysis, FTIR spectroscopy, wide-angle X-ray diffraction, and gas permeation tests. Variations in the d spacing, the formation of pore structures, and changes in the pore sizes of the CMS membranes were discussed in relation to pyrolysis protocols. The uncross-linked polymer membranes showed high CO 2/CH4 selectivity, whereas thermally crosslinked membranes exhibited significantly improved CO2 permeability and excellent CO2 plasticization resistance. The CMS membranes showed even higher CO2 permeability and CO2/CH4 selectivity. An increase in the pyrolysis temperature resulted in CMS membranes with lower gas permeability but higher selectivity. The 550 °C pyrolyzed CMS membranes showed CO2 permeability as high as 14 750 Barrer with CO 2/CH4 selectivity of approximately 52. Even 800 °C pyrolyzed CMS membranes still showed high CO2 permeability of 2610 Barrer with high CO2/CH4 selectivity of approximately 118. Both polymer membranes and the CMS membranes are very attractive in aggressive natural gas purification applications. Permeating through: Polyimide-based uncross-linked, thermally crosslinked, and carbon molecular sieve (CMS) membranes are prepared. Variations in the d spacing, the formation of pore structures, and changes in the pore sizes of the CMS membranes are discussed in relation to pyrolysis protocols. Both the polymer and CMS membranes are very attractive in aggressive natural gas purification applications. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1186-1194
Number of pages9
JournalChemSusChem
Volume7
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 23 2014
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01
Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): KUS-I1-011-21
Acknowledgements: This research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Grant DE-FG02-04ER15510, and was partially supported by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) through Award No. KUS-I1-011-21.
This publication acknowledges KAUST support, but has no KAUST affiliated authors.

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