Covalent organic frameworks-incorporated thin film composite membranes prepared by interfacial polymerization for efficient CO2 separation

Thin film composite (TFC) membranes with nanofillers additives for CO₂ separation show promising applications in energy and environment-related fields. However, the poor compatibility between nanofillers and polymers in TFC membranes is the main problem. In this work, covalent organic frameworks (COFs, TpPa-1) with rich —NH— groups were incorporated into polyamide (PA) segment via in situ interfacial polymerization to prepare defect-free TFC membranes for CO₂/N₂ separation. The formed covalent bonds between TpPa-1 and PA strengthen the interaction between nanofillers and polymers, thereby enhancing compatibility. Besides, the incorporated COFs disturb the rigid structure of the PA layer, and provide fast CO₂ transfer channels. The incorporated COFs also increase the content of effective carriers, which enhances the CO₂ facilitated transport. Consequently, in CO₂/N₂ mixed gas separation test, the optimal TFC (TpPa_0.025-PIP-TMC/mPSf) membrane exhibits high CO₂ permeance of 854 GPU and high CO₂/N₂ selectivity of 148 at 0.15 MPa, CO₂ permeance of 456 GPU (gas permeation unit) and CO₂/N₂ selectivity of 92 at 0.5 MPa. In addition, the TpPa_0.025-PIP-TMC/mPSf membrane also achieves high permselectivty in CO₂/CH₄ mixed gas separation test. Finally, the optimal TFC membrane showes good stability in the simulated flue gas test, revealing the application potential for CO₂ capture from flue gas.