Improving membrane performance by incorporating polymer-embedded
metal-organic framework microspheres
Abstract
The controlling nanofiller aggregation and strengthening interfacial
interaction are of great scientific significance for mixed matrix
membranes (MMMs). In this study, the polymer-embedded metal-organic
framework (pMOF) microspheres (MSs) are designed by one-pot synthesis
and employed as microfillers for improving separation performance of
MMMs. Through adding polymer during solvothermal crystallization, the
polymer chains are embedded into the MOF materials, and the morphologies
of the MOFs are transformed from nanopaticles to polycrystalline MSs.
Since the embedding of the identical polymer promotes the compatibility
of polymeric matrixes and fillers, as well as the micrometer-sized
porous MSs offer additionally superior and permanent transport pathways,
the resulted MMMs display simultaneously enhanced selectivity and
permeability for carbon capture. The CO2/CH4 selectivity and CO2
permeability of the pMOF MMMs are achieved at 1.3 and 2.2 times as those
of the pure polymeric membranes, and 1.5 and 1.2 times as those of the
MOF MMMs, respectively.