Synthesis of Ets-4 mixed matrix membranes for gas separation

Abstract

Zeotypes structure exhibits improved catalytic and adsorptive properties in comparison with classical aluminosilicitaes which leading to intensive reports on the titanium silicon-based melocular sieves. In this study, Engelhard Titanosilicate (ETS-4), a molecular sieve having five molar composition were synthesized from organic titanium (titanium (IV) butoxide) and silica (sodium silicate solution) sources through hydrothermal heating. ETS-4 was synthesized at 200˚C in 24 and 72 h. Physical characterization of morphologies and surface characteristics of final products were carried out by utulizing X-ray Diffractometry (XRD), Thermogravimetry/Differential Thermal Analysis (TG/DTA), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and Brunauer, Emmet and Teller (BET) surface area analysis. This study is conducted to investigate and optimize synthesis parameters; reaction time , pH of initial solution, and characteristics of the final product. Thermogravimetric analysis od DTA exposed that the ETS-4 prepared shown great thermal stability and produced highest surface area compared to ETS-4 synthesized by conventional method. the product uniformity in terms of degree of intergrowth, size, and morphology are affected finely grounded and added to a Nafion® 117 solution to produce Nafion/ETS-4 membranes for gas separation which show great perfomance.