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Hydrogen separation using polybenzimidazole membrane with palladium nanoparticles stabilized by polyvinylpyrrolidone
Author(s) -
Suhaimi Hani Shazwani Mohd,
Leo Choe Peng,
Ahmad Abdul Latif
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of energy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.808
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1099-114X
pISSN - 0363-907X
DOI - 10.1002/er.6793
Subject(s) - membrane , polyvinylpyrrolidone , selectivity , permeation , nanoparticle , chemical engineering , materials science , palladium , hydrogen , polymer chemistry , chemistry , organic chemistry , catalysis , nanotechnology , biochemistry , engineering
Summary An innovation in hydrogen (H 2 ) selective membrane holds the substantial key of H 2 economy. Polymers are the most practical and economical material for membrane fabrication, but their application in H 2 separation is always constrained within the selectivity‐permeability “trade‐off” boundary. The expensive palladium (Pd) thin films offer higher selectivity by facilitating the dissociation, diffusion and re‐association of H 2 gas. This work reports on the incorporation of Pd nanoparticles into polybenzimidazole (PBI) membranes to surpass the mentioned limitations. Pd nanoparticles were synthesized and stabilized in the inversed microemulsion of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) prior to blending. The X‐ray diffraction and energy dispersive X‐ray results proved the presence of Pd nanoparticles blended into PBI membrane with dense structure. The agglomerated and the stabilized Pd nanoparticles PBI matrix behaved very differently in H 2 adsorption at the rising temperature as shown in temperature‐programmed reduction results. The ideal H 2 /CO 2 selectivity of PBI membrane with 1 wt% of Pd nanoparticles was improved by 49% compared to the PBI membrane at 150°C. This membrane surpassed the upper bound Robeson plot at 300°C (ideal H 2 /CO 2 selectivity of 83.57; H 2 permeability of 151.73 Barrer) and the H 2 permeation could be correlated with Van't Hoff‐Arrhenius equation.