Effect of ZIF-7 doping content on H₂/CO₂ separation performance of 1,2-bis(triethoxysilyl)ethane-derived organosilica membranes

Organosilica membranes with good hydrothermal stability are promising for pre-combustion capture, but the trade-off effect still constrains their gas separation performance. Herein, we prepared hybrid membranes by incorporating ZIF-7 nanoparticles into 1, 2-bis(triethoxysilyl)ethane (BTESE) networks to improve the H₂/CO₂ permselectivity by the intrinsic properties of nanoparticles. The effect of inorganic fillers was investigated by adjusting the doping content of ZIF-7 nanoparticles. We found that the H₂ permeance of hybrid membranes remained at ∼10⁻⁶ mol·m⁻²·s⁻¹·Pa⁻¹, while the H₂/CO₂ permselectivity decreased with increasing nanoparticle doping content. The E-ZIF-7-0.4 hybrid membrane showed H₂ permeance of 1.2 × 10⁻⁶ mol·m⁻²·s⁻¹·Pa⁻¹ and H₂/CO₂ permselectivity of 21.7. Our results may offer valuable insights into preparing hybrid membranes with optimal nanoparticle doping content.