CO2/CH4 separation by high performance co-casted ZIF-8/Pebax 1657/PES mixed matrix membrane

ZIF-8 particles were synthesized at different temperatures. The resulted ZIF-8 particles were characterized by particle size analyzer, SEM, XRD, N-2 adsorption and BET tests. ZIF-8/Pebax 1657 mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) were prepared by co-casting. A thin (1.6-7.1 mu m thickness) and defect free selective top layer of ZIF-8/Pebax 1657 was formed on top of polyethersulfone (PES) sub layer. The resulted MMMs with thin selective layer showed significant improvement in CO2 permeability and CO2/CH4 selectivity in both pure and mixed gas permeation tests compared with pure Pebax 1657 membrane. Remarkable permeability of 758 Barrer with CO2/CH4 selectivity of 16.1 was observed for the MMM synthesized by smallest ZIF-8 particles (fabricated in 60 degrees C) with about 2 mu m thickness of selective layer. The synthesized MMMs in this study showed competitive CO2/CH4 separation performance compared with reported state of the art Pebax based membranes in pure gas permeation tests. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.