(650e) Nanostructured Polymer-Based Membranes for Gas Separation and Other Applications

Nanostructured Polymer-Based Membranes for Gas Separation and Other Applications

Witopo Salim¹ and W.S. Winston Ho^1,2

¹William G. Lowrie Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The Ohio State University, 151 West Woodruff Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210-1350, USA

²Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Ohio State University, 2041 College Road, Columbus, OH 43210-1178, USA

Abstract

Advances in nanotechnology in recent years enhance the R&D in nanostructured polymer-based membranes.  This work reports on the recent developments of the nanostructured polymer-based membranes, formed by incorporating nanomaterials and/or porous membranes with nanoscale pores, for gas separations, reverse osmosis, ultrafiltration, and other potential applications.  Significant progress has been made on the development of nanostructured membranes for gas separations, particularly for CO₂ separations from H₂, N₂ and CH₄.  A polymer/zeolite composite nanostructured membrane is presented as an example of the potential of nanostructured polymer-based membrane for the gas separation application of CO₂ capture from flue gas in power plants.  Continued improvements on the nanostructured reverse osmosis polyamide membranes via interfacial polymerization have been made along with the efforts on developing novel nanostructured membranes for desalination.  The modification of both the surface and bulk properties of the ultrafiltration membranes by nanomaterials can improve the membrane performance and open up the possibility of new applications in addition to those for the current ultrafiltration membrane processes.  Amine-containing membranes composed of a selective layer on nanoporous polysulfone support are presented as an example of the application of ultrafiltration membrane for the CO₂ separation from a synthesis gas stream containing CO₂ and H₂S, i.e., for hydrogen purification for fuel cells or for pre-combustion CO₂ capture in IGCC (integrated gasification combined cycle) technology.  Similarly, amine-containing membranes composed of a selective layer on nanoporous polyethersulfone support are another example of the application of ultrafiltration membrane for CO₂ capture from flue gas.