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Novel polyethylene glycol/nanosilica-reinforced polyurethane mixed matrix nanocomposite membrane with enhanced gas separation properties

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Abstract

In this study, the effect of nanosilica (SiO2) reinforcement on the gas separation properties of polyurethane/polyethylene glycol (PU-PEG) nanocomposite membrane was investigated. Formulation optimization of PU-PEG-SiO2 triple nanocomposite membrane was performed using experimental design and the Taguchi method. The effects of different formulation variables including nanosilica content, PEG content and molecular weight on the permeability and selectivity of CO2, N2, O2 and CH4 gases were investigated. The morphological and structural properties of the membranes were investigated by SEM, XRD, and FTIR analysis. Finally, the selectivity of optimal nanosilica-reinforced membrane was evaluated by Robeson's upper bound diagram. The obtained results showed that increasing the PEG content improves the gas permeability of the membrane due to its plasticizing effect. However, PEG plasticizing effect decreased at higher molecular weights and resulted in permeability reduction. By increasing the nanosilica content, the permeability of all the gasses reduced but the selectivity of the membrane for CO2 over CH4 and N2 improved. Finally, PU-20% PEG6000-5% SiO2 formulation which had the best selectivity for CO2/CH4 gases and was closer to Robeson’s upper bound line was chosen as the optimal composition. In conclusion, PEG/nanosilica-reinforced Polyurethane nanocomposite membrane could serve as a promising candidate for efficient gas separation applications.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

    Milad Abdolmaleki & Omid Moini Jazani

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, USA

    Hamidreza Moradi

  3. Energy and Environment Group, Department of Building, Civil and Environment Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada

    Mojtaba Malayeri

  4. Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Montana, 32 Campus Drive, Missoula, MT, 59812, USA

    Fatemeh Mehradnia

Authors
  1. Milad Abdolmaleki
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  2. Omid Moini Jazani
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  3. Hamidreza Moradi
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  4. Mojtaba Malayeri
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  5. Fatemeh Mehradnia
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Correspondence to Fatemeh Mehradnia.

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Abdolmaleki, M., Moini Jazani, O., Moradi, H. et al. Novel polyethylene glycol/nanosilica-reinforced polyurethane mixed matrix nanocomposite membrane with enhanced gas separation properties. Braz. J. Chem. Eng. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43153-023-00407-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43153-023-00407-x

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