Metal-induced polymer framework membrane with high performance for CO2 separation

Abstract

In this study, a novel porous material, that is, metal-induced polymer framework-1 (MPF-1) was synthesized using Zn(NO3)2·6H2O and a high-molecular weight PVAmacid. MPF-1 has two structural advantages that help to create CO2 separation membranes with simple fabrication procedure and high performance. First, MPF-1 is a high-molecular weight polymer with certain flexibility, and thus having good membrane-forming ability. Second, MPF-1 has small and uniform distributed pores, and contains amine groups those can react with CO2 molecules reversibly. Therefore, CO2 molecules can preferentially adsorb on pore walls of MPF-1 and transport across the pores by monomolecular surface diffusion, while most of N2, CH4, or H2 molecules are excluded out the pores. The MPF-1 was employed to fabricate a microporous membrane by coating the MPF-1 dispersions on a polysulfone ultrafiltration membrane. CO2 permeance and selectivity of the membrane keep almost unchanged with the feed pressure increasing from 0.11 to 1.0 MPa. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 65: 239–249, 2019.