Volume 136, Issue 1 e202315167
Forschungsartikel

Dormancy and double-activation strategy for construction of high-performance mixed-matrix membranes

Dr. Shuo Li

Dr. Shuo Li

Beijing Key Laboratory for Green Catalysis and Separation, Department of Chemical Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124 China

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Wei-Yao Han

Wei-Yao Han

Beijing Key Laboratory for Green Catalysis and Separation, Department of Chemical Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124 China

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Zhao-Xu Wang

Zhao-Xu Wang

Beijing Key Laboratory for Green Catalysis and Separation, Department of Chemical Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124 China

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Yu-Jie Sun

Yu-Jie Sun

Beijing Key Laboratory for Green Catalysis and Separation, Department of Chemical Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124 China

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Prof. Zilong Zheng

Prof. Zilong Zheng

Faculty of Materials and Manufacturing, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124 China

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Dr. Ming-Jie Yin

Corresponding Author

Dr. Ming-Jie Yin

Beijing Key Laboratory for Green Catalysis and Separation, Department of Chemical Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124 China

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Prof. Shaomin Liu

Corresponding Author

Prof. Shaomin Liu

WA School of Mines: Minerals, Energy and Chemical Engineering, Curtin University, Bentley, WA 6102 Australia

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Prof. Quan-Fu An

Corresponding Author

Prof. Quan-Fu An

Beijing Key Laboratory for Green Catalysis and Separation, Department of Chemical Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124 China

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First published: 20 November 2023

Abstract

Mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) have the potential for energy-efficient gas separation by matching the superior mass transfer and anti-plasticization properties of the fillers with processability and scaling up features of the polymers. However, construction of high-performance MMMs has been prohibited due to low filler-loading and the existence of interfacial defects. Here, high MOF-loaded, i.e., 55 wt %, MMMs are developed by a ‘dormancy and double-activation’ (DDA) strategy. High MOF precursor concentration suppresses crystallization in the membrane casting solution, realizing molecular level mixing of all components. Then, the polymeric matrix was formed with uniform encapsulation of MOF nutrients. Subsequently, double-activation was employed to induce MOF crystallization: the alkali promotes MOFs nucleation to harvest small porous nanocrystals while excessive ligands activate the metal ions to enhance the MOFs conversion. As such, quasi-semi-continuous mass transfer channels can be formed in the MMMs by the connected MOFs nanocrystals to boost the gas permeability. The optimized MMM shows significantly ameliorated CO2 permeability, i.e., 2841 Barrer, five-fold enhancement compared with pristine polymer membrane, with a good CO2/N2 selectivity of 36. Besides, the nanosized MOFs intensify their interaction with polymer chains, endowing the MMMs with good anti-plasticization behaviour and stability, which advances practical application of MMMs in carbon capture.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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