Influence of oxidation temperature on the gas permeation and separation properties in a microporous carbon membrane

Of thermosetting polymers, polyphenylene oxide (PPO) is considered as one of the promising alternative polymeric precursors for carbon membrane preparation. In this study, the PPO derived carbon membranes were prepared by carbonization and followed by air-oxidation as post-treatment method to modify the membrane pore structures. The characterization of the pore properties showed that air-oxidation enlarged the pore structure for the postoxidized carbon materials. The permeation results for the post-oxidized carbon membranes showed that the extent of the permeation modification was strongly dependent on the oxidation temperature. In the binary mixture gas systems, the permeation performance of the adsorbing gas species increased due to the surface diffusion mechanism. It is considered in the oxidation effect on the permeation modification that the post-oxidation of the carbon membranes increased gas permeation and separation properties.