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Improvement of CO2/CH4 separation characteristics of polyethersulfone by modifying with polydimethylsiloxane and nano-silica

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Abstract

Porous asymmetric polyethersulfone (PES) hollow fiber membrane was fabricated via dry/wet spinning process. The spinning dope consisted of 18 wt.% PES in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) solvent. Distilled water was used as bore fluid to make hollow fiber membrane without inner skin layers. Then, a skin layer consisting of poly (4-vinyl pyridine), PVP, silicon rubber PDMS and silica nanoparticles (nano-SiO2) was transferred to the PES substrate surface by means of a dip coating method, leading to a nanocomposite hollow fiber membrane. Investigation of the cross-section of the prepared membranes via scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) revealed a good adhesion between the top dense layer and the PES substrate. Moreover, tensile strength and ultimate elongation of the pristine membrane were increased 2.3 and 5 times, respectively, when the PVP/PDMS/nano-SiO2 coating was formed on its outer surface. Finally, according to the results of gas permeation tests, the prepared nanocomposite membrane, with a CO2/CH4 selectivity of 45 and CO2 permeance of 102 GPU would be an attractive candidate for applications such as natural gas purification and control of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions.

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Author notes

  1. Alireza Sharif

    Present address: Polymer Engineering Group, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Polymer Science and Technology Division, Research Institute of Petroleum Industries (RIPI), P. O. Box 14665-1137, Tehran, Iran

    Alireza Sharif, Ghader Khanbabaie, Mahmood Hemmati, Jamal Aalaie & Ali Gheshlaghi

  2. Polymer Engineering Group, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

    Hadis Koolivand & Mehdi Razzaghi Kashani

Authors
  1. Alireza Sharif
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  2. Hadis Koolivand
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Correspondence to Alireza Sharif.

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Sharif, A., Koolivand, H., Khanbabaie, G. et al. Improvement of CO2/CH4 separation characteristics of polyethersulfone by modifying with polydimethylsiloxane and nano-silica. J Polym Res 19, 9916 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-012-9916-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-012-9916-3

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