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Oxygen enrichment across blend membranes of bipyridine and ethyl cellulose
Author(s) -
Huang MeiRong,
Xu QianWei,
Gu ShuYing,
Wu YanHui,
Dong ZhiQing,
Wang Jian,
Shao HongTao,
Wang XueSong
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.11416
Subject(s) - membrane , permeation , chemistry , ethyl cellulose , oxygen , chromatography , cellulose , nitrogen , polymer chemistry , chemical engineering , organic chemistry , polymer , biochemistry , engineering
Blend membranes of 2,2′‐bipyridine (2BP) or 4,4′‐bipyridine (4BP) with ethyl cellulose (EC) containing no more than 25 wt % BP are prepared and evaluated for their oxygen enrichment by both the constant pressure–variable volume method and the constant volume–variable pressure method. The actual air‐separation ability through the 2BP/EC blend membrane containing 1.5–7 wt % 2BP are enhanced while the permeated flux is slightly increased in comparison with the virgin EC membrane. Among the 2BP/EC blend membranes examined, the 2BP/EC blend membrane containing 3 wt % 2BP offers the best oxygen/nitrogen permselectivity and yields the highest oxygen concentration of 42.7% at the transmembrane pressure difference of 0.75 MPa and 25°C. Like other homogeneous dense membranes, the BP/EC blend membrane demonstrates strong dependencies on the transmembrane pressure difference, retentate/permeate flux ratio, and operating temperature. It possesses higher activation energy of oxygen and nitrogen permeation than those of the virgin EC membrane in the tested temperature range of 9.7–60°C. The CO 2 over CH 4 permselectivity through EC membranes can be improved by introducing 4BP, and the ideal oxygen over nitrogen separation factor through the 4BP/EC (10/90) membrane increases 16% at the upstream pressure of 10 bar compared with the virgin EC membrane. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 87: 1371–1381, 2003