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Quest for high performance carbon capture membranes: Fabrication of SAPO-34 and CNTs-doped polyethersulfone-based mixed-matrix membranes |
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| Authors: | Sidra Nawaz Muhammad Sarfraz Asif Ali Qaiser Muneerah Alomar Soumaya Gouadria Amal Ali BaQais |
| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Polymer and Process Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan Contribution: Conceptualization (lead), Formal analysis (lead), Methodology (equal), Writing - original draft (lead);2. Department of Polymer and Process Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan;3. Department of Polymer and Process Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan Contribution: Data curation (supporting), Formal analysis (supporting), Funding acquisition (supporting), Project administration (equal), Resources (equal), Supervision (equal), Validation (lead);4. Department of Physics, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Contribution: Formal analysis (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal);5. Department of Physics, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Contribution: Data curation (equal), Formal analysis (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal);6. Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Contribution: Formal analysis (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal) |
| Abstract: | Gas separation process is an effective method for capturing and removing CO2 from post-combustion flue gases. Due to their various essential properties such as ability to improve process efficiency, polymeric membranes are known to dominate the market. Trade-off between gas permeability and selectivity through membranes limits their separation performance. In this study, solution casting cum phase separation method was utilized to create polyethersulfone-based composite membranes doped with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and silico aluminophosphate (SAPO-34) as nanofiller materials. Membrane properties were then examined by performing gas permeation test, chemical structural analysis and optical microscopy. While enhancing membranes CO2 permeance, SAPO-34 and CNTs mixture improved their CO2/N2 selectivity. By carefully adjusting membrane casting factors such as filler loadings. Using Taguchi statistical analysis, their carbon capture efficiency was improved. The improved mixed-matrix membrane with loading of 5 wt% CNTs and 10 wt% SAPO-34 in PES showed highly promising separation performance with a CO2 permeability of 319 Barrer and an ideal CO2/N2 selectivity of 12, both of which are within the 2008 Robeson upper bound. A better mixed-matrix membrane with outstanding CO2/N2 selectivity and CO2 permeability was produced as a result of the synergistic effect of adding two types of fillers in optimized loading. |
| Keywords: | carbon capture CNTs mixed-matrix membranes polyethersulfone SAPO-34 Taguchi method |