Enhanced CO۲ Separation Using Pebax Membrane Modified with Ethylene Glycol Monophenyl Ether

CO۲ separation is one of the main challenges of today's world due to the growth of industries. Membrane separation method is a promising method for CO۲ separation, and poly(ether-block-amide) (Pebax) polymer membrane is one of the industrial membranes in this regard. However, this membrane is limited by the permeability-selectivity trade-off, which restricts its wider industrial application. This study aimed to address this limitation by incorporating ethylene glycol monophenyl ether (EGME) as filler in the Pebax membrane. The investigation focused on the impact of EGME on the chemical structure, morphology, physical and thermal properties, as well as the separation characteristics of the polymer. The results showed that by adding EGME, the prepared membrane became more brittle, with increased stiffness, and the tensile strength and Young's modulus of the Pebax/EGME membrane increased by ۵۳ and ۹۹.۵ percent, respectively, compared to the pure membrane. Furthermore, the permeability of CO۲ and the CO۲/N۲ selectivity improved by ۲۴۷% and ۴۹%, respectively, attributed to the interactions between EGME and CO۲ molecules, including Lewis acid-base, dipole-quadrupole, and π-quadrupole interactions. This performance improvement allowed the Pebax/EGME membrane to surpass the Robeson upper bound, overcoming the permeability-selectivity trade-off, indicating the key role of EGME in improving the separation performance of Pebax. Moreover, The separation efficiency of the developed membranes was on par with, and in many cases superior to, the majority of membranes created by other researchers.

کلیدواژه ها:

CO۲ separation ، Polymer membrane ، Polyether block amide ، ethylene glycol monophenyl ether ، trade-off limitation