Open AccessUltrapermeable Composite Membranes Enhanced Via Doping with Amorphous MOF Nanosheets
Author(s) -
Min Liu,
Ke Xie,
Mitchell D. Nothling,
Lianhai Zu,
Shenlong Zhao,
Dalton J. E. Harvie,
Qiang Fu,
Paul A. Webley,
Greg Qiao
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
acs central science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.893
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 2374-7951
pISSN - 2374-7943
DOI - 10.1021/acscentsci.0c01711
Subject(s) - permeance , membrane , materials science , gas separation , chemical engineering , amorphous solid , selectivity , permeation , metal organic framework , layer (electronics) , ethylene glycol , thin film composite membrane , porosity , nanotechnology , chemistry , composite material , organic chemistry , catalysis , adsorption , reverse osmosis , biochemistry , engineering
Thin-film composite (TFC) polymeric membranes have attracted increasing interest to meet the demands of industrial gas separation. However, the development of high-performance TFC membranes within their current configuration faces two key challenges: (i) the thickness-dependent gas permeability of polymeric materials (mainly poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)) and (ii) the geometric restriction effect due to the limited pore accessibility of the underlying porous substrate. Here we demonstrate that the incorporation of trace amounts (∼1.8 wt %) of amorphous metal-organic framework (MOF) nanosheets into the gutter layer of TFC assemblies can simultaneously address these two limitations by the creation of rapid, transmembrane gas diffusion pathways. The resultant PDMS&MOF membrane displayed excellent CO 2 permeance of 10450 GPU and CO 2 /N 2 selectivity of 9.1. Leveraging this strategy, we successfully fabricate a novel TFC membrane, consisting of a PDMS&MOF gutter and an ultrathin (∼54 nm) poly(ethylene glycol) top selective layer via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization. The complete TFC membrane exhibits excellent processability and remarkable CO 2 /N 2 separation performance (1990 GPU with a CO 2 /N 2 ideal selectivity of 39). This study reveals a strategy for the design and fabrication of a new TFC membrane system with unprecedented gas-separation performance.