Utilization of thiol-ene Chemistry for Simple Fabrication of Zeolite-based Mixed Matrix Membranes

摘要

Large-scale applicability of selectively permeable gas-separation membranes is inhibited by difficult and expensive processing methods. Past research in the Nazarenko Research Group has demonstrated simple and low-energy fabrication of membranes utilizing rapid kinetics of thiol-ene "click" chemistry. Fast UV initiation and crosslinking of polymers provides additional benefits in the case of mixed matrix membrane (MMM) fabrication, as the quick-setting network traps dispersed particles in the bulk. For this project, thiol-ene networks were synthesized to and employed as matrices for MMMs. The relationship between zeolite loading and gas permeability was characterized via constant volume/variable pressure analysis. Preliminary studies show improvements in permeability and selectivity (C02/CH4 and C02/N2) of MMMs with zeolite loading up to (40 wt%) compared to the neat polymer membranes. While current results suggest thiol-enes as viable raw materials for easily processable high performance MMMs, gas sorption and mechanical analyses are required to confirm this notion.