Affiliations 

  • 1 Faculty of Chemistry, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, 7 Gagarina Street, 87-100 Toruń, Poland
  • 2 Leuven KU, Department of Chemical Engineering, Process Engineering for Sustainable Systems, W. de Croylaan 46, BE-3001 Heverlee, Belgium
  • 3 Laboratory of Heat-Equipment Research and Testing, Lithuanian Energy Institute, 3 Breslaujos Street, 44403 Kaunas, Lithuania
Materials (Basel), 2020 Jun 25;13(12).
PMID: 32630434 DOI: 10.3390/ma13122847

Abstract

Asymmetric polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) membranes were fabricated by a non-solvent induced phase inversion method. Glycerin and silica nanoparticles were added into the polymer solution to investigate their effects on the material properties and gas separation performance of prepared membranes. The morphology and structure of PPSU membranes were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the surface roughness of the selective layer was analyzed by atomic force microscopy (AFM), and the surface free energy was calculated based on the contact angle measurements by using various solvents. The gas separation performance of PPSU membranes was estimated by measuring the permeability of CO2 and CH4. The addition of glycerin as a nonsolvent into the polymer solution changed the cross-section structure from finger-like structure into sponge-like structure due to the delayed liquid-liquid demixing process, which was confirmed by SEM analysis. The incorporation of silica nanoparticles into PPSU membranes slightly increased the hydrophilicity, which was confirmed by water contact angle results. PPSU membrane fabricated from the polymer solution containing 10 wt.% glycerin showed the best CO2/CH4 selectivity of 3.86 and the CO2 permeability of 1044.01 Barrer. Mixed matrix PPSU membrane containing 0.1 wt.% silica nanoparticles showed the CO2/CH4 selectivity of 3.16 and the CO2 permeability of 1202.77 Barrer.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.