Synthesis and optimization of high-performance amine-based polymer for CO2 separation

Membrane technology features inspiring excellence from numerous separation technologies for CO₂ capture from post-combustion gas. Polyvinylamine (PVAm)-based facilitated transport membranes show significantly high separation performance, which has been proven promising for industrial scale-up. However, commercialized PVAm with low molecular weight and excessive crystallinity is not available to prepare high-performance membranes. Herein, the synthesis process of PVAm was optimized by regulating polymerization and acidic hydrolytic conditions. The membranes based on PVAm with a molecular weight of 154 kDa and crystallinity of 11.37% display high CO₂ permeance of 726 GPU and CO₂/N₂ selectivity of 55 at a feed gas pressure of 0.50 MPa. Furthermore, we established a PVAm synthesis reactor with an annual PVAm solution (1%(mass)) capacity of over 7000 kg and realized the scaled-up manufacture of both PVAm and composite membranes.