Experimental investigation of natural polysaccharide-based mixed matrix membrane modified with graphene oxide and Pd-nanoparticles for enhanced gas separation performance

In this work, we proposed a mixed matrix membrane prepared by using a glycerol modified guar gum (GGP) polymer matrix incorporated with graphene oxide (GO). The influence of varying GO concentration on the gas separation performance was investigated and 2 wt% was found to be the optimum concentration for high performance. The 2 wt% GO mixed matrix membranes were further modified with Pd nanoparticles. When GO, and Pd nanoparticles were mixed, CO₂ permeability increased by 49.94%, while the permeability of H₂ gas molecules decreased by 98.11%, respectively, compared to the pristine GGP membrane. The selectivity of CO₂/H₂ was obtained as 18.27. The glass transition temperature of the membrane increased from 85 to 95.2 °C, tensile strength and elongation of the break were significantly improved by 29.09% and 84.37% through the addition of Pd and GO into the membrane. The scanning electron microscopy revealed a dense top surface after GO nanosheets incorporation. Further, the thermogravimetric analysis proposes that the modified membrane is thermally stable than GGP. Henceforth, the study suggests GO incorporation and Pd nanoparticles modification of guar gum membrane is a promising gas separation membrane with potentially high selectivity for CO₂ gas.