TY - JOUR
T1 - Mixed matrix membranes based on torlon® and ZIF-8 for high-temperature, size-selective gas separations
AU - De Pascale, Matilde
AU - Benedetti, Francesco Maria
AU - Lasseuguette, Elsa
AU - Ferrari, Maria Chiara
AU - Papchenko, Kseniya
AU - Esposti, Micaela Degli
AU - Fabbri, Paola
AU - De Angelis, Maria Grazia
N1 - Funding Information:
The Erasmus Placement program funded the stay of M.D.P. at the University of Edinburgh.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2021/12/15
Y1 - 2021/12/15
N2 - Torlon® is a thermally and plasticization-resistant polyamide imide characterized by low gas permeability at room temperature. In this work, we aimed at improving the polymer performance in the thermally-enhanced He/CO2 and H2/CO2 separations, by compounding Torlon® with a highly permeable filler, ZIF-8, to fabricate Mixed Matrix Membranes (MMMs). The effect of filler loading, gas size, and temperature on the MMMs permeability, diffusivity, and selectivity was investigated. The He permeability increased by a factor of 3, while the He/CO2 selectivity decreased by a factor of 2, when adding 25 wt % of ZIF-8 at 65◦C to Torlon®; similar trends were observed for the case of H2. The MMMs permeability and size-selectivity were both enhanced by temperature. The behavior of MMMs is intermediate between the pure polymer and pure filler ones, and can be described with models for composites, indicating that such materials have a good polymer/filler adhesion and their performance could be tailored by acting on the formulation. The behavior observed is in line with previous investigations on MMMs based on glassy polymers and ZIF-8, in similar conditions, and indicates that ZIF-8 can be used as a polymer additive when the permeability is a controlling aspect, with a proper choice of loading and operative temperature.
AB - Torlon® is a thermally and plasticization-resistant polyamide imide characterized by low gas permeability at room temperature. In this work, we aimed at improving the polymer performance in the thermally-enhanced He/CO2 and H2/CO2 separations, by compounding Torlon® with a highly permeable filler, ZIF-8, to fabricate Mixed Matrix Membranes (MMMs). The effect of filler loading, gas size, and temperature on the MMMs permeability, diffusivity, and selectivity was investigated. The He permeability increased by a factor of 3, while the He/CO2 selectivity decreased by a factor of 2, when adding 25 wt % of ZIF-8 at 65◦C to Torlon®; similar trends were observed for the case of H2. The MMMs permeability and size-selectivity were both enhanced by temperature. The behavior of MMMs is intermediate between the pure polymer and pure filler ones, and can be described with models for composites, indicating that such materials have a good polymer/filler adhesion and their performance could be tailored by acting on the formulation. The behavior observed is in line with previous investigations on MMMs based on glassy polymers and ZIF-8, in similar conditions, and indicates that ZIF-8 can be used as a polymer additive when the permeability is a controlling aspect, with a proper choice of loading and operative temperature.
KW - CO capture
KW - Gas separation
KW - Mixed matrix membranes
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85121311775&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/membranes11120982
DO - 10.3390/membranes11120982
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85121311775
VL - 11
JO - Membranes
JF - Membranes
SN - 2077-0375
IS - 12
M1 - 982
ER -