Enhanced natural gas purification by a mixed-matrix membrane with a soft MOF that has a CO2-adapted nanochannel

Fanfan Jiang, Jiaxin Zhao, Jingmeng Wan, Baishu Zheng, I. Ya Chang, Jingui Duan, Wanqin Jin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mixed-matrix membranes, which are fabricated by incorporating dispersed fillers into continuous polymers, have been considered as a promising and feasible platform for highly efficient gas separation. However, few have impurity-adapted nanochannels. Herein we present a group of mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) incorporating a soft metal-organic framework (NTU-88c, activated NTU-88) into 6FDA-DAM. The rotation of the pyridyl rings of the ligands in NTU-88c creates a nanochannel with an aperture size of 3.4 Å, which falls between the kinetic parameters of CO2 (3.3 Å) and CH4 (3.8 Å). The membrane shows enhanced CO2 permeability (1140 Barrer) at 60 °C, accompanied by a good separation factor of 45. In addition, an increase in feed gas pressure 1.0 MPa (25 °C) resulted in a notable enhancement in CO2 permeability (645 Barrer), accompanied by a high CO2/CH4 separation factor (41). More importantly, the MMM has demonstrated durable and stable CO2/CH4 separation performance in long-term test, exceeding the Robeson upper-bound, suggesting a promising potential for natural gas purification. Moving forward, the findings of this work not only demonstrate the importance of porous fillers that have impurity-adapted nanochannels for membrane separation, but also offer a route to design and construct high-performance MMMs for feasible applications.

Original languageEnglish
Article number123080
JournalJournal of Membrane Science
Volume708
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2024

Keywords

  • CO-Adapted nanochannel
  • CO/CH separation
  • Mixed-matrix membranes
  • Soft metal-organic framework

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