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Green Hydrogen Separation from Nitrogen by Mixed‐Matrix Membranes Consisting of Nanosized Sodalite Crystals
Author(s) -
Yang Ge,
Guo Hailing,
Kang Zixi,
Zhao Lei,
Feng Shou,
Jiao Feng,
Mintova Svetlana
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
chemsuschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.412
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1864-564X
pISSN - 1864-5631
DOI - 10.1002/cssc.201802577
Subject(s) - sodalite , membrane , chemical engineering , materials science , polyetherimide , gas separation , selectivity , barrer , nanoparticle , crystallite , nanocomposite , polymer , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , zeolite , chemistry , composite material , catalysis , biochemistry , engineering , metallurgy
Nanosized sodalite (Nano‐SOD) crystals were used as active filler to prepare mixed‐matrix membranes (MMMs) for promoting the H 2 /N 2 gas‐separation performance. The Nano‐SOD crystals with extremely small crystallites (40–50 nm) were synthesized from a colloidal suspension free of organic structural directing agent and uniformly dispersed in the polyetherimide (PEI) matrix. The Nano‐SOD filler with a suitable aperture size (2.8 Å) allowed only H 2 molecules to pass through and rejected the N 2 , thus improving the selectivity of the membranes. The high dispersion of Nano‐SOD crystals in the polymer matrix and the interactions between the inorganic and organic phases greatly improved the membrane separation performance and minimized interfacial holes. The MMMs showed a high H 2 permeability (≈7155.1 Barrer at 25 °C under atmospheric pressure) and an ideal H 2 /N 2 selectivity factor of approximately 16.9 in a single gas test. Moreover, in a gas mixture (H 2 /N 2 , 25–100 °C), the selectivity factor increased significantly to approximately 30.9. The high stability of the MMMs, which consist of highly dispersed Nano‐SOD crystals in a PEI matrix for H 2 /N 2 separation (6 weeks continuous test), makes them an important material for ammonia synthesis applications that require and also release a large amount of H 2 .