Effect of pmma-mwnts loading on Co2 separation performance of thin film nanocomposite membrane

Abstract

Nanocomposite membrane, especially the thin film nanocomposite (TFN) fabricated via interfacial polymerization (IP) is a relatively new class of membrane which features good separation performance and practical processing. This study investigated on the effects of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) loading on the gas separation performance of the resultant TFNs. TFNs were tested with pure CO2, N2 and CH4 gases at feed pressure of 2 bar. The findings from this study suggested that the optimum fillers loading was around 0.25 g/L in the coating solution which gives TFN with CO2 permeance of 53.5 gas permeation unit (GPU) (12% higher than base membrane without filler), CO2/N2 selectivity of 61 and CO2/CH4 selectivity of 35. The enhancement in CO2 permeance without sacrificing the membrane selectvities was attributed to the good dispersion and compatibility of the MWNTs with the polymer matrix while the nanotubes serve as rapid diffusion channels to facilitate transport of gases. TFN embedded with polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)-MWNTs showed potential for low pressure carbon capture and storage application.