Cu-MOF Based Membrane for CO2 Separation

Abstract

Carbon dioxide (CO2) capture is one of the major industrial operation these days as of its harmful effects on environment. CO2 is removed from the natural gas to provide clean energy with low footprint and separated from the flue gases to decrease the amount of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Among the available techniques for CO2 separation, membrane technology has a great advantages with a low cost, high energy, and potential for easy upscale. This research is conducted to combine cost and energy efficient membrane technology with highly selective Cu-MOF based membrane for selective separation of CO2, CH4, & N2. Two types of, pure polysulfone (PSF) and Cu-MOF (Metal Organic Framework) based mixed matrix membranes (MMM) with different compositions of Cu-MOF (10%, 20% & 30%) were fabricated and compared them with each other and with other MOF based membranes after their characterization results. Both Cu-MOF and Cu-MOF based MMM were characterized by FTIR, XRD and gas permeation tests. And performance of the membranes were tested for CO2 separation from CH4 and N2. Experiments were conducted at different operating conditions to evaluate the commercial potential of membranes. It is shown that incorporation of Cu-MOF in membranes resulted in enhanced performance of membranes as MMMs showed an increase of 153% in CO2 permeability and an increase of 32% CO2/CH4 and 29.6% CO2/N2 selectivity. Pure gas permeability of CO2 is 16.6 Barrer for 30% loading of Cu-MOF. And performance of the membranes go on increasing with an increase in percentage of Cu-MOF in membranes. The results identify the potential of Cu-MOF in membrane technology and potential application for effective and efficient CO2 separation. It is expected that these membranes will play a vital role in CO2 separation.