Development of New Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Materials for Hydrogen SeparationMembranes at Sandia National Laboratories

摘要

We have been developing a new class of hybrid organic-inorganic materials ascandidates for hydrogen separation membranes. This type of material shows significant promise for use in membranes due to good thermal and chemical stability, and ease of processing into defect-free thin films. These polysilsesquioxanes are easily prepared from the hydrolysis and condensation of organotrialkoxysilane monomers with reactive organic functionalities, such as maleimide and methacryloxypropyl groups, that are stable to sol-gel conditions but can be 'cured' thermally or chemically as a membrane. Introducing highly dispersed catalysts into these materials was realized through the pre-coordination of palladium to a silane monomer before the polymerization. Finally, a new route to inorganic membranes from polysilsesquioxanes with thermally cleavable organic substituents was investigated. This new method circumvents some of the difficulties associated with sol-gel fabrication of silica membranes by using well-defined, processible precursors.