Pebax/poly(vinyl alcohol) mixed matrix membrane incorporated by amine-functionalized graphene oxide for CO2 separation

Abstract

Graphene oxide nanoparticles (GO) were firstly functionalized using p-phenylenediamine and then utilized as nanofillers to prepare poly(ether-block-amide) (Pebax®-1657)/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA-60000)-based mixed-matrix membranes. The modified GO as well as the fabricated mixed matrix membranes underwent some characterization analyses, including FTIR, TGA, XRD, FESEM, and EDX. The influence of amine-modified nanoparticles content (2, 4, and 6 wt%), and feed pressure on CO2, CH4, and N2 permeabilitis and ideal CO2/CH4 and CO2/N2 selectivities values of the MMMs were investigated. The permeation experiments demonstrated that Pebax/PVA (10 and 15 wt%) blend membranes caused an increase in CO2 permeability owing to the high affinity of polar CO2 molecules to polar PVA segments. Moreover, the incorporation of 6 wt% amine-functionalized GO into the Pebax/PVA (10 wt%) and Pebax/PVA (15 wt%) blend polymer raised the CO2 permeability and CO2/CH4 and CO2/N2 selectivity by nearly 43%, 28%, and 37%, respectively, due to the higher CO2 adsorption capacity of the amine-functionalized GO.