(10i) Fabrication of Thin Film Composite Membranes using Microporous Polymer Blends and Polybenzimidazole Nanoporous Supports for CO2/N2 Separation
AIChE Annual Meeting
2019
2019 AIChE Annual Meeting
Topical Conference: Advances in Fossil Energy R&D
Advanced Materials for Carbon Dioxide Capture for Power Generation
Sunday, November 10, 2019 - 5:42pm to 6:00pm
Fabrication
of Thin Film Composite Membranes using Microporous Polymer Blends and Polybenzimidazole
Nanoporous Supports for CO2/N2 Separation Lingxiang Zhu†,‡,*, Ali K. Sekizkardes†,‡,
Victor A. Kusuma†,‡, Surendar R. Venna†,‡ Shouliang
Yi†,‡, David P. Hopkinson†,* †
U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory, 626 Cochrans
Mill Road, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15236, United States ‡ Leidos
Research Support Team, 626 Cochrans Mill Road, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15236,
United States *Correspondence
to: D. Hopkinson david.hopkinson@netl.doe.gov, L. Zhu lingxiang.zhu@netl.doe.gov Industrial gas separations usually use large-scale
(~10,000 m2 or more/plant) thin film composite (TFC) membranes that
are comprised of a thin (100 nm - 1 μm) selective layer and a thick (>
20 μm) porous support layer. Fabrication and scale-up of the TFC membranes
depend on selective layer material with good thin film forming ability and a porous
membrane support with optimized pore structure (i.e., small pore size
and high porosity) and thus minimal gas transport resistance. In this study, we
fabricated TFC membranes based on a cost-effective polymer of intrinsic microporosity/ether
side chain polyphosphazene (PIM-1/MEEP) blend that is a high-performance CO2-selective
membrane material developed in-house recently [1]. PIM-1 and MEEP are soluble
and miscible in chloroform, rendering PIM-1/MEEP blend exceptional coatability.
To accommodate the thin film coating of PIM-1/MEEP, chloroform-resistant
polybenzimidazole (PBI) nanoporous supports were fabricated via a phase-inversion
method. These PBI nanoporous supports were characterized by pore size of <
20 nm, surface porosity of ca. 15%, and CO2 permeance of
250,000 GPU at 25 °C. Defect-free sub-micron PIM-1 based TFC membranes were
prepared on the PBI supports via a dip coating technique, and their pure- and
mixed-gas CO2/N2 separation properties were systematically
investigated. For example, 1-μm-thick PIM-1/MEEP TFC membranes showed
pure-gas CO2 permeance of ca. 800 GPU and CO2/N2
selectivity of 28 at 25 °C. Their gas separation performance, membrane
stability, and aging behavior in flue gas stream at National Carbon Capture
Center would be presented as well.
Reference:
[1]
A. Sekizkardes,
V. Kusuma, J. McNally, D. Gidley, K. Resnik, S. Venna, D. Hopkinson, J.
Mater. Chem. A, 2018,6, 22472-22477
of Thin Film Composite Membranes using Microporous Polymer Blends and Polybenzimidazole
Nanoporous Supports for CO2/N2 Separation Lingxiang Zhu†,‡,*, Ali K. Sekizkardes†,‡,
Victor A. Kusuma†,‡, Surendar R. Venna†,‡ Shouliang
Yi†,‡, David P. Hopkinson†,* †
U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory, 626 Cochrans
Mill Road, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15236, United States ‡ Leidos
Research Support Team, 626 Cochrans Mill Road, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15236,
United States *Correspondence
to: D. Hopkinson david.hopkinson@netl.doe.gov, L. Zhu lingxiang.zhu@netl.doe.gov Industrial gas separations usually use large-scale
(~10,000 m2 or more/plant) thin film composite (TFC) membranes that
are comprised of a thin (100 nm - 1 μm) selective layer and a thick (>
20 μm) porous support layer. Fabrication and scale-up of the TFC membranes
depend on selective layer material with good thin film forming ability and a porous
membrane support with optimized pore structure (i.e., small pore size
and high porosity) and thus minimal gas transport resistance. In this study, we
fabricated TFC membranes based on a cost-effective polymer of intrinsic microporosity/ether
side chain polyphosphazene (PIM-1/MEEP) blend that is a high-performance CO2-selective
membrane material developed in-house recently [1]. PIM-1 and MEEP are soluble
and miscible in chloroform, rendering PIM-1/MEEP blend exceptional coatability.
To accommodate the thin film coating of PIM-1/MEEP, chloroform-resistant
polybenzimidazole (PBI) nanoporous supports were fabricated via a phase-inversion
method. These PBI nanoporous supports were characterized by pore size of <
20 nm, surface porosity of ca. 15%, and CO2 permeance of
250,000 GPU at 25 °C. Defect-free sub-micron PIM-1 based TFC membranes were
prepared on the PBI supports via a dip coating technique, and their pure- and
mixed-gas CO2/N2 separation properties were systematically
investigated. For example, 1-μm-thick PIM-1/MEEP TFC membranes showed
pure-gas CO2 permeance of ca. 800 GPU and CO2/N2
selectivity of 28 at 25 °C. Their gas separation performance, membrane
stability, and aging behavior in flue gas stream at National Carbon Capture
Center would be presented as well.
Reference:[1]
A. Sekizkardes,
V. Kusuma, J. McNally, D. Gidley, K. Resnik, S. Venna, D. Hopkinson, J.
Mater. Chem. A, 2018,6, 22472-22477