Enhancing the separation performance of glassy PPO with the addition of a molecular sieve (ZIF-8): gas transport at various temperatures

Abstract

In this study, we prepared and characterized composite films formed by amorphous poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO) and particles of the size-selective Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework 8 (ZIF-8). The aim was to increase the permselectivity properties of pure PPO using readily available materials to enable the possibility to scale-up the technology developed in this work. The preparation protocol established allowed robust membranes with filler loadings as high as 45 wt% to be obtained. The thermal, morphological, and structural properties of the membranes were analyzed via DSC, SEM, TGA, and densitometry. The gas permeability and diffusivity of He, CO[subscript 2], CH[subscript 4], and N[subscript 2] were measured at 35, 50, and 65°C. The inclusion of ZIF-8 led to a remarkable increase of the gas permeability for all gases, and to a significant decrease of the activation energy of diffusion and permeation. The permeability increased up to +800% at 45 wt% of filler, reaching values of 621 Barrer for He and 449 for CO[subscript 2] at 35°C. The ideal size selectivity of the PPO membrane also increased, albeit to a lower extent, and the maximum was reached at a filler loading of 35 wt% (1.5 for He/CO[subscript 2], 18 for CO[subscript 2]/N[subscript 2], 17 for CO[subscript 2]/CH[subscript 4], 27 for He/N[subscript 2], and 24 for He/CH[subscript 4].) The density of the composite materials followed an additive behavior based on the pure values of PPO and ZIF-8, which indicates good adhesion between the two phases. The permeability and He/CO[subscript 2] selectivity increased with temperature, which indicates that applications at higher temperatures than those inspected should be encouraged. ©2020 Keywords: gas separation; CO2 capture; mixed-matrix membranes