Metal Organic Framework-Polymer compatibility and gas separation performance

M. G. GARCIA; N.A.OCHOA; J. MARCHESE; L. PALACIO; P. PRÁDANOS; A. HERNANDEZ

Conferencia; Fourth International Conference on Multifunctional, Hybrid and Nanomaterials; 2015

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Mostof the commercial gas separation membranes are polymeric in nature due to theireconomical fabrication, good mechanical properties and versatility ofconfigurations such as hollow fibers and spirals modules. However, limitationsin gas separation performance reached by pure polymers have promoted searching ofnew membrane designs that improve not only gas permeation but also gasseparation performances. Surpassing Robeson ?trade off? of different gas pairssuch as H2/CH4, CO2/CH4 and O2/N2represents one of the major challenges to be reached. Metal Organic Frameworks(MOFs) are a relatively new class of hybrid materials built from metal ions asconnectors and organic bridging ligands as linkers with the ability ofselectively adsorbed gases. The combination of MOFs and polymers in the form ofmixed matrix membranes (MMMs) has become an increasingly important field ofresearch over the last few years due to the possibility of improvingpolymer-filler compatibility, preparing defect-free membranes and reachingbetter gas permselectivities. In this work, a new Nickel (II) metal organicframework and three commercial polymers were used to prepare mixed matrixmembranes for gas separation. Compatibility between Ni-MOF and Matrimid, ULTEM1000 and 6F6F polyimide was studied through optical microscopy, FTIRspectroscopy and XRD analysis. The influence of polymer-filler affinity wasevaluated through gas permeation measurements. Ideal separation factors werecalculated for H2/CH4 and CO2/CH4gas pairs. Results showed Ni-MOF-polymer compatibility was in the order ULTEM1000 > 6F6F > Matrimid. Charge transfer interaction between functionalgroups in polymers and Ni-MOF might be responsible for affinity. Gas separationresults showed ULTEM 1000/Ni-MOF possess the highest H2/CH4and CO2/CH4 selectivities.