State-of-the-art membrane based CO2 separation using mixed matrix membranes (MMMs): an overview on current status and future directions

Abstract

The main purpose of research in membrane gas separation is to develop membranes with high permeability and selectivity. Historically, the gas separation performance of polymeric membranes has been constrained to an upper performance limit. Hence, different methods have been investigated to prepare membranes that can exceed this limitation including the incorporation of inorganic materials into polymer matrices. Membranes formed by this method are called mixed matrix membranes (MMMs). The major challenge is to prepare a defect-free polymer/inorganic nanoparticles interfaces with enhanced separation performance and mechanical and thermal stability. For this purpose, various types of nanoparticles have been proposed and examined experimentally. This review is especially devoted to summarize the fundamental concepts that have to be considered to prepare various types of MMMs, including considerations for the design novel MMMs that will eventually surpass the Robeson's trade-off upper bound. In addition, it provides the pros and cons of various factors that affect the MMM preparation especially for CO2 separation processes.