Composite hollow fiber membranes for CO2 capture

Composite hollow fibers membranes were prepared by coating poly(phenylene oxide) (PPO) and polysulfone (PSf) hollow fibers with high molecular polyvinylamine (PVAm). Two procedures of coating hollow fibers outside and respective inside were investigated with respect to intrinsic PVAm solution properties and hollow fibers geometry and material.The influence of operating mode (sweep or vacuum) on the performances of membranes was investigated. Vacuum operating mode gave better results than using sweep because part of the sweep gas permeated into feed and induced an extra resistance to the most permeable gas the CO₂. The composite PVAm/PSf HF membranes having a 0.7–1.5 μm PVAm selective layer, showed CO₂/N₂ selectivity between 100 and 230. The selectivity was attributed to the CO₂ facilitated transport imposed by PVAm selective layer. The CO₂ permeance changed from 0.006 to 0.022 m³(STP)/(m² bar h) in direct correlation with CO₂ permeance and separation mechanism of the individual porous supports used for membrane fabrication. The multilayer PVAm/PPO membrane using as support PPO hollow fibers with a 40 nm PPO dense skin layer, surprisingly presented an increase in selectivity with the increase in CO₂ partial pressure. This trend was opposite to the facilitated transport characteristic behaviour of PVAm/porous PSf. This indicated that PVAm/PPO membrane represents a new membrane, with new properties and a hybrid mechanism, extremely stable at high pressure ratios. The CO₂/N₂ selectivity ranged between 20 and 500 and the CO₂ permeance from 0.11 to 2.3 m³(STP)/(m² bar h) depending on the operating conditions.For both PVAm/PSf and PVAm/PPO membranes, the CO₂ permeance was similar with the CO₂ permeance of uncoated hollow fiber supports, confirming that the CO₂ diffusion rate limiting step resides in the properties of the relatively thick support, not at the level of 1.2 μm thin and water swollen PVAm selective layer. A dynamic transfer of the CO₂ diffusion rate limiting step between PVAm top layer and PPO support was observed by changing the feed relative humidity (RH%). The CO₂ diffusion rate was controlled by the PPO support when using humid feed. At low feed humidity the 1.2 μm PVAm top layer becomes the CO₂ diffusion rate limiting step.     

Novel fixed‐site–carrier polyvinylamine membrane for carbon dioxide capture

Fixed‐site–carrier membranes were prepared for the facilitated transport of CO₂ by casting polyvinylamine (PVAm) on various supports, such as poly(ether sulfone) (PES), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), cellulose acetate (CA), and polysulfone (PSO). The cast PVAm on the support was crosslinked by various methods with glutaraldehyde, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, and ammonium fluoride. Among the membranes tested, the PVAm cast on polysulfone and crosslinked by ammonium fluoride showed the highest selectivity of CO₂ over CH₄ (>1000). The permeance of CO₂ was then measured to be 0.014 m³ (STP)/(m² bar h) for a 20 μm thick membrane. The effect of the molecular weight of PVAm and feed pressure on the permeance was also investigated. The selectivity increased remarkably with increasing molecular weight and decreased slightly with increased pressure in the range of 1 to 4 bar. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 4326–4336, 2004     

Facilitated transport of CO2 in novel PVAm/PVA blend membrane

A defect-free ultra thin PVAm/PVA blend facilitated transport membrane cast on a porous polysulfone (PSf) support was developed and evaluated in this study. The target membrane was prepared from commercial polyvinyl amine (PVAm) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). Effects of experimental conditions were investigated for a CO₂–N₂ mixed gas. A CO₂/N₂ separation factor of up to 174 and a CO₂ permeance up to 0.58 m³(STP)/(m² h bar) were documented. Experimental results suggest that CO₂ is being transported according to the facilitated transport mechanism through this membrane. The fixed amino groups in the PVAm matrix function as CO₂ carriers to facilitate the transport whereas the PVA adds mechanical strength to the blend by entanglement of the polymeric chains hence creating a supporting network. The good mechanical properties obtained from the blend of PVA with PVAm, enabled an ultra thin selective layer (down to 0.3 μm) to be formed on PSf support (with MWCO of 50,000), resulted in both high selectivity and permeance. The PVAm/PVA blend membrane also exhibited a good stability during a 400 h test.     

Effect of pyrolysis temperature and operating temperature on the performance of nanoporous carbon membranes

Technology designed to capture and store carbon dioxide (CO₂) will play a significant role in the near-term reduction of CO₂ emissions and is considered necessary to slow global warming. Nanoporous carbon (NPC) membranes show promise as a new generation of gas separation membranes suitable for CO₂ capture.We have made supported NPC membranes from polyfurfuryl alcohol (PFA) at various pyrolysis temperatures. Positron annihilation lifetime spectrometry (PALS) and wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) results indicate that the pore size decreases whilst the porosity increases with increasing pyrolysis temperature. The membrane performance results support these findings with a significant increase in permeance being seen with increasing pyrolysis temperature, which relates to the increase in porosity.Mixed gas performance measurements also show an increase in CH₄ permeance as the operating temperature is increased from 35 to 200 °C, which can be related to an increase in the rate of diffusion. However, the selectivity decreases with increasing operating temperature due to the smaller changes in the CO₂ permeance. These smaller changes in CO₂ permeance can be related to the stronger adsorption of this gas on the carbon surface at lower operating temperatures. Interestingly, regardless of the original pyrolysis temperature, the selectivity at higher operating temperatures is similar, whereas the permeance remains related to this pyrolysis temperature.     

Preparation of CO_2 selective composite membranes using Pebax/CuBTC/PEG-ran-PPG ternary system

Three phase Pebax~? MH 1657/PEG-ran-PPG/CuBTC(polymer/liquid/solid) was successfully deposited as a selective layer on a porous Polysulfone(PSF) support. In fact, the beneficial properties of PEG(high selectivity) with those of PPG(high permeability, amorphous) have been combined with superior properties of mixed matrix membrane(MMMs). The membranes were characterized by DSC, TGA and SEM, while CuBTC was characterized by CO_2 and CH_4adsorption test. Statistically based experimental design(central composite design, CCD) was applied to analyze and optimize the effect of PEG-ran-PPG(10–50 wt%) and CuBTC(0–20 wt%) mass contents on the CO_2 permeance and CO_2/CH_4 ideal selectivity. Based on the regression coefficients of the obtained models, the CO_2 permeance was notably influenced by PEG-ran-PPG,while CuBTC has the most significant effect on the CO_2/CH_4 ideal selectivity. Under the optimum conditions(PEG-ran-PPG: 32.76 wt% and CuBTC: 20 wt%), nearly 620% increase in the CO_2 permeance and43% enhancement in the CO_2/CH_4 ideal selectivity was observed compared to the neat Pebax. The effect of pressure(3, 9 and 15 bar) on the pure and mixed gas separation performance of the composite membranes was also investigated. The high solubility of CO_2 in the membranes resulted in the enhancement of CO_2 permeability with increase in gas pressure.     

Development of Ultrahigh Permeance Hollow Fiber Membranes via Simple Surface Coating for CO2/CH4 Separation

Most researchers focused on developing highly selective membranes for CO₂/CH₄ separation, but their developed membranes often suffered from low permeance. In this present work, we aimed to develop an ultrahigh permeance membrane using a simple coating technique to overcome the trade-off between membrane permeance and selectivity. A commercial silicone membrane with superior permeance but low CO₂/CH₄ selectivity (in the range of 2–3) was selected as the host for surface modification. Our results revealed that out of the three silane agents tested, only tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) improved the control membrane’s permeance and selectivity. This can be due to its short structural chain and better compatibility with the silicone substrate. Further investigation revealed that higher CO₂ permeance and selectivity could be attained by coating the membrane with two layers of TEOS. The surface integrity of the TEOS-coated membrane was further improved when an additional polyether block amide (Pebax) layer was established atop the TEOS layer. This additional layer sealed the pin holes of the TEOS layer and enhanced the resultant membrane’s performance, achieving CO₂/CH₄ selectivity of ~19 at CO₂ permeance of ~2.3 × 10⁵ barrer. This performance placed our developed membrane to surpass the 2008 Robeson Upper Boundary.     

A Uniformly Oriented MFI Membrane for Improved CO2 Separation

Membrane separation of CO₂ from natural gas, biogas, synthesis gas, and flu gas is a simple and energy‐efficient alternative to other separation techniques. But results for CO₂‐selective permeance have always been achieved by randomly oriented and thick zeolite membranes. Thin, oriented membranes have great potential to realize high‐flux and high‐selectivity separation of mixtures at low energy cost. We now report a facile method for preparing silica MFI membranes in fluoride media on a graded alumina support. In the resulting membrane straight channels are uniformly vertically aligned and the membrane has a thickness of 0.5 μm. The membrane showed a separation selectivity of 109 for CO₂/H₂ mixtures and a CO₂ permeance of 51×10^?7 mol m^?2 s^?1 Pa^?1 at ?35 °C, making it promising for practical CO₂ separation from mixtures.     

High performance of PES-GNs MMMs for gas separation and selectivity

In this study, graphene nanosheets (GNs) were incorporated into polyethersulfone (PES) by phase inversion approach for preparing PES-GNs mixed matrix membranes (MMMs). To investigate the impact of filler content on membrane surface morphology, thermal stability, chemical composition, porosity and mechanical properties, MMMs were constructed with various GNs loadings (0.01, 0.02, 0.03, and 0.04 wt%). ?The performance of prepared MMMs was tested for separation and selectivity of CO₂, N₂, H₂ and CH₄ gases at various pressures from 1 to 6 bar and temperature varying from 20 to 60 °C. It was observed that, compared to the pristine PES membrane, the prepared MMMs significantly improved the gas separation and selectivity performance with adequate mechanical stability. The permeability of CO₂, N₂, H₂ and CH₄ for the PES + 0.04 wt% GNs increases from 9 to 2246, 11 to 2235, 9 to 7151, and 3 to 4176 Barrer respectively, as compared with pure PES membrane at 1 bar and 20 °C due to improving the membrane absorption and porosity. In addition, by increasing the pressure, the permeability and selectivity of CO₂, N₂, H₂ and CH₄ are increased due to the increased driving force for the transport of gas via membranes. Furthermore, the permeability of CO₂, N₂, H₂ and CH₄ increased by increasing the temperature from 20 to 60 °C due to the plasticization in the membranes and the improvement in polymer chain movement. This result proved that the prepared membranes can be used for gas separation applications.     

PEG modified poly(amide-b-ethylene oxide) membranes for CO2 separation

In the present work, membranes from commercially available Pebax^® MH 1657 and its blends with low molecular weight poly(ethylene glycol) PEG were prepared by using a simple binary solvent (ethanol/water). Dense film membranes show excellent compatibility with PEG system up to 50 wt.% of content. Gas transport properties have been determined for four gases (H₂, N₂, CH₄, CO₂) and the obtained permeabilities were correlated with polymer properties and morphology of the membranes. The permeability of CO₂ in Pebax^®/PEG membrane (50 wt.% of PEG) was increased two fold regarding to the pristine Pebax^®. Although CO₂/N₂ and CO₂/CH₄ selectivity remained constant, an enhancement of CO₂/H₂ selectivity (∼11) was observed. These results were attributed to the presence of EO units which increases CO₂ permeability, and to a probable increase of fractional free-volume. Furthermore, for free-volume discussion and permeability of gases, additive and Maxwell models were used.     

Separation of carbon dioxide from nitrogen using ion-exchanged faujasite-type zeolite membranes formed on porous support tubes

Faujasite-type zeolite membranes were reproducibly synthesized by hydrothermal reaction on the outer surface of a porous α-alumina support tube of 30 or 200 mm in length. The membrane properties were evaluated by CO₂ separation from an equimolar mixture of CO₂ and N₂ at a permeation temperature of 40°C. CO₂ permeance and CO₂/N₂ selectivity of the NaY-type membranes were in the ranges of 0.4×10⁻⁶–2.5×10⁻⁶ mol m⁻² s⁻¹ Pa⁻¹ and 20–50, respectively. The NaY-type membranes were ion-exchanged with alkali and alkaline earth cations. The LiY-type membrane showed the highest N₂ permeance and the lowest CO₂/N₂ selectivity. The KY-type membrane gave the highest CO₂/N₂ selectivity. The NaY-type membrane was stable against exposure to air at 400°C. NaX-type zeolite membranes, formed by decreasing the ratio of SiO₂/Al₂O₃ in the starting solution, exhibited lower CO₂ permeances and higher CO₂/N₂ selectivities than those of the NaY-type zeolite membranes.     

Study on the effect of process parameters on CO2/CH4 binary gas separation performance over NH2-MIL-53(Al)/cellulose acetate hollow fiber mixed matrix membrane

The aim of current work is to study the interaction of process parameters including, temperature, CO₂ feed composition and feed pressure were towards CO₂ separation from CO₂/CH₄ binary gas mixture over hollow fiber mixed matrix membrane using design of experiment (DoE) approach. The hollow fiber mixed matrix membrane (HFMMM) containing NH₂-MIL-53(Al) filler and cellulose acetate polymer was successfully spun and fibers with outer diameter of approximately 250–290 nm were obtained. The separation results revealed that the increment of temperature from 30 °C to 50 °C reduced the CO₂/CH₄ separation factor while, increasing feed pressure from 3 bar to 15 and increment of CO₂ feed composition from 15 to 42.5 vol% increased the separation factor of HFMMM. The DoE results showed that the feed pressure was the most significant process parameter that intensely affected the CH₄ permeance, CO₂ permeance and CO₂/CH₄ separation factor. Based on the experimental results obtained, maximum CO₂ permeance of 3.82 GPU was achieved at feed pressure of 3 bar, temperature of 50 °C and CO₂ feed composition of 70 vol%. Meanwhile, minimum CH₄ permeance of 0.01 GPU was obtained at feed pressure of 15 bar and temperature of 30 °C and CO₂ feed composition of 70 vol%. Besides, maximum CO₂/CH₄ separation factor of 14.4 was achieved at feed pressure of 15 bar and temperature of 30 °C and CO₂ feed composition of 15 vol%. Overall, the study on the interaction between separation processes parameters using central composite design (CCD) coupled with response surface methodology (RSM) possesses significant importance prior to the application of NH₂-MIL-53(Al)/Cellulose Acetate HFMMM at industrial scale of natural gas purification.     

Formation of high-performance 6FDA-2,6-DAT asymmetric composite hollow fiber membranes for CO2/CH4 separation

We report that 6FDA-2,6-DAT polyimide can be used to fabricate hollow fiber membranes with excellent performances for CO₂/CH₄ separation. In order to simplify the hollow fiber fabrication process and verify the feasibility of 6FDA-2,6-DAT hollow fiber membranes for CO₂/CH₄ separation, a new one-polymer and one-solvent spinning system (6FDA-2,6-DAT/N-methyl-pyrrolidone (NMP)) with much simpler processing conditions has been developed and the separation performance of newly developed 6FDA-2,6-DAT hollow fiber membranes has been further studied under the pure and mixed gas systems.Experimental results reveal that 6FDA-2,6-DAT asymmetric composite hollow fiber membranes have a strong tendency to be plasticized by CO₂ and suffer severely physical aging with an initial CO₂ permeance of 300 GPU drifting to 76 GPU at the steady state. However, the 6FDA-2,6-DAT asymmetric composite hollow fibers still present impressive ultimate stabilized performance with a CO₂/CH₄ selectivity of 40 and a CO₂ permeance of 59 GPU under mixed gas tests. These results manifest that 6FDA-2,6-DAT polyimide is one of promising membrane material candidates for CO₂/CH₄ separation application.     

Synthesis and behaviour of hybrid polymer-silica membranes made by sol gel process with adsorbed carbonic anhydrase enzyme,in the capture of CO<Subscript>2</Subscript>

Thin nylon-SiO₂ membranes made by sol–gel SiO₂ coating of a nylon weaving were impregnated in a second step with an aqueous carbonic anhydrase solution. The biocatalytic hybrid membranes obtained were applied to the capture of CO₂ from a N₂–CO₂ gas mixture containing 10% CO₂, under a total pressure ≈ 1 atm. The CO₂ permeance of these membranes was at least similar to those previously reported for liquid membranes. When impregnated with a 0.2 mg mL⁻¹ enzyme solution in a pH ≈ 8 NaHCO₃ buffer, the permeance of a nylon-SiO₂ membrane was multiplied by a factor ≈ 3 when the buffer molarity was increased from 0.1 to 1 M. By comparison, this permeance only increased by a factor ≈ 1.3 without any enzyme in the same buffers. The permeance was also higher with the enzyme than without it: respectively ≈3.7 10⁻⁸ and ≈4.7 10⁻⁹ mol \textm_{\textmembrane} ^{- 2} {\text{m}}_{\text{membrane}}^{{^{ - 2} }} s⁻¹ Pa⁻¹ with and without enzyme, in a 1 M NaHCO₃ buffer. A maximum permeance was observed for an enzyme concentration of ≈0.2 mg mL⁻¹, possibly due to a competition between the H⁺ ions produced from CO_2,aq by the enzyme and the H⁺ captured by the buffer. Besides, when the SiO₂–CO₂ contact was enhanced by the membrane architecture, SiO₂ improved the CO₂ permeance. The influence of an in situ CaCO₃ deposit was also investigated and it improved the CO₂ permeance when no enzyme was added.     

Growth of High‐Quality,Thickness‐Reduced Zeolite Membranes towards N2/CH4 Separation Using High‐Aspect‐Ratio Seeds

Greatly improved zeolite membranes were prepared by using high‐aspect‐ratio zeolite seeds. Slice‐shaped seeds with a high aspect ratio (AR) facilitated growth of thinner continuous SAPO‐34 membranes of much higher quality. These membranes showed N₂ permeances as high as (2.87±0.15)×10^?7 mol m^?2 s^?1 Pa^?1 at 22 °C while maintaining a decent N₂/CH₄ selectivity (9–11.2 for equimolar mixture). On the basis of these thinner high‐quality SAPO‐34 membranes, fine‐tuning the local crystal structure by incorporating more silicon further increased the N₂ permeance by 1.4 times without sacrificing the N₂/CH₄ selectivity. We expect that application of large AR zeolite seeds might be a viable strategy to grow thin high‐quality zeolite membranes. In addition, fine‐tuning of the crystal structure by changing the crystal composition might be a feasible way for further improving the separating performance of high‐quality zeolite membranes.     

Continuous Porous Aromatic Framework Membranes with Modifiable Sites for Optimized Gas Separation

Continuous microporous membranes are widely studied for gas separation, due to their low energy premium and strong molecular specificity. Porous aromatic frameworks (PAFs) with their exceptional stability and structural flexibility are suited to a wide range of separations. Main-stream PAF-based membranes are usually prepared with polymeric matrices, but their discrete entities and boundary defects weaken their selectivity and permeability. The synthesis of continuous PAF membranes is still a major challenge because PAFs are insoluble. Herein, we successfully synthesized a continuous PAF membrane for gas separation. Both pore size and chemistry of the PAF membrane were modified by ion-exchange, resulting in good selectivity and permeance for the gas mixtures H₂/N₂ and CO₂/N₂. The membrane with Br^? as a counter ion in the framework exhibited a H₂/N₂ selectivity of 72.7 with a H₂ permeance of 51844 gas permeation units (GPU). When the counter ions were replaced by BF₄^?, the membrane showed a CO₂ permeance of 23058 GPU, and an optimized CO₂/N₂ selectivity of 60.0. Our results show that continuous PAF membranes with modifiable pores are promising for various gas separation situations.     

Aromatic polysulfone copolymers for gas separation membrane applications

New polysulfone (PSF) copolymers from bis(4-fluorophenyl)sulfone and based on equimolar mixtures of the rigid/compact naphthalene moiety with bulky connectors from bisphenols: tetramethyl, hexafluoro, and tetramethyl hexafluoro, respectively, were synthesized to measure significant physical properties related to the gas separation field. The flexible and transparent polymer dense films TM-NPSF, HF-NPSF and TMHF-NPSF show high glass transition temperatures T_g  230 °C and high decomposition temperatures T_D  400 °C (10 wt.% loss, in air). Free volume cavity sizes, as determined by PALS, are in the range of 94–139 Å³. Their gas permeability and selectivity combinations of properties, measured at 35 °C and 2 atm, are very attractive since their selectivity for the pair of gases H₂/CH₄, O₂/N₂, and CO₂/CH₄ are higher than those for commercial PSF membranes, having similar or superior permeability coefficients for the most permeable gases H₂, O₂, and CO₂. Especially important is the tetramethyl naphthalene polysulfone TM-NPSF membrane which reports selectivities for H₂/CH₄, O₂/N₂ and CO₂/CH₄ of 122, 7.6 and 38 with corresponding permeability coefficients (in Barrers) of 17 for H₂, 1.2 for O₂, and 5.2 for CO₂. These results are interpreted in terms of free volume size and glass transition temperature together with the respective contribution of gas solubility and diffusivity to the overall selectivity coefficients.     

Pebax‐Based Membrane Filled with Two‐Dimensional Mxene Nanosheets for Efficient CO2 Capture

Mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) made from inorganic fillers and polymers is a kind of promising candidate for gas separation. In this work, two‐dimensional MXene nanosheets were synthesized and incorporated into a polyether‐polyamide block copolymer (Pebax) matrix to fabricate MMM for CO₂ capture. The physicochemical properties of MXene nanosheets and MXene/Pebax membranes were studied systematically. The introduction of MXene nanosheets provided additional molecular transport channels and meanwhile enhanced the CO₂ adsorption capacity, thereby enhancing both the CO₂ peremance and CO₂/N₂ selectivity of Pebax membrane. The optimized MXene/Pebax membrane with a MXene loading of 0.15 wt % displayed a high separation performance with a CO₂ permeance of 21.6 GPU and a CO₂/N₂ selectivity of 72.5, showing potential application in CO₂ capture.     

Upgrading low-quality natural gas with H2S- and CO2-selective polymer membranes: Part II. Process design, economics, and sensitivity study of membrane stages with recycle streams

The cost of membrane separation processes for removing CO₂ and H₂S from low-quality natural gas can be reduced for some concentration ranges of CO₂ and H₂S by utilizing concurrently two different types of polymer membranes, one with a high CO₂/CH₄ selectivity and the other with a high H₂S/CH₄ selectivity. The polymers considered in this exploratory study were 6FDA-HAB polyimide for the removal of CO₂ and [poly(ether urethane urea)] (PEUU) for the removal of H₂S. It was required that the concentrations of CO₂ and H₂S in low-quality natural gas be reduced to US pipeline specifications (≤2 mol% CO₂ and ≤4 ppm H₂S). Low-quality natural gas was simulated in this study by CH₄/CO₂/H₂S mixtures containing up to 40 mol% CO₂ and 10 mol% H₂S. Twenty-seven membrane process configurations (PCs) were examined by computer simulations and optimized in order to determine the most economical configurations. Part I of this study considered only PCs without recycle streams [J. Hao, P.A. Rice, S.A. Stern, Upgrading low-quality natural gas with H₂S- and CO₂-selective polymer membranes. Part I. Process design and economics of membrane stages without recycle streams, J. Membr. Sci. 209 (2002) 177–206]. In Part II, reported below, the study was extended to two- and three-stage PCs with various recycle options. A sensitivity analysis was also made to determine the effects of variations in feed flow rate, feed pressure, membrane module cost, and wellhead price of natural gas on process economics. The economically optimal PCs were found to be either two membrane stages connected in series with or without recycle streams or single stages without recycle, depending on feed composition and selected operating conditions. The optimal two-stage PCs with recycle streams would utilize the H₂S/CH₄-selective membranes in the first stage and either the CO₂/CH₄ or the H₂S/CH₄-selective membranes, or both, in the second stage. Three-stage membrane PCs were not found to be economically competitive under the conditions assumed in this study.     

Xenon Recovery by DD3R Zeolite Membranes: Application in Anaesthetics

Xe is only produced by cryogenic distillation of air, and its availability is limited by the extremely low abundance. Therefore, Xe recovery after usage is the only way to guarantee sufficient supply and broad application. Herein we demonstrate DD3R zeolite as a benchmark membrane material for CO₂/Xe separation. The CO₂ permeance after an optimized membrane synthesis is one order magnitude higher than for conventional membranes and is less susceptible to water vapour. The overall membrane performance is dominated by diffusivity selectivity of CO₂ over Xe in DD3R zeolite membranes, whereby rigidity of the zeolite structure plays a key role. For relevant anaesthetic composition (<5 % CO₂) and condition (humid), CO₂ permeance and CO₂/Xe selectivity stabilized at 2.0×10^?8 mol m^?2 s^?1 Pa^?1 and 67, respectively, during long‐term operation (>320 h). This endows DD3R zeolite membranes great potential for on‐stream CO₂ removal from the Xe‐based closed‐circuit anesthesia system. The large cost reduction of up to 4 orders of magnitude by membrane Xe‐recycling (>99+%) allows the use of the precious Xe as anaesthetics gas a viable general option in surgery.     

Superior gas separation performance of dual-layer hollow fiber membranes with an ultrathin dense-selective layer

A concept demonstration has been made to simultaneously enhance both O₂ and CO₂ gas permeance and O₂/N₂ and CO₂/CH₄ selectivity via intelligently decoupling the effects of elongational and shear rates on dense-selective layer and optimizing spinning conditions in dual-layer hollow fiber fabrication. The dual-layer polyethersulfone hollow fiber membranes developed in this work exhibit an O₂/N₂ selectivity of 6.96 and an O₂ permeance of 4.79 GPU which corresponds to an ultrathin dense-selective layer of 918 Å at room temperature. These hollow fibers also show an impressive CO₂/CH₄ selectivity of 49.8 in the mixed gas system considering the intrinsic value of only 32 for polyethersulfone dense films. To our best knowledge, this is the first time to achieve such a high CO₂/CH₄ selectivity without incorporating any material modification. The above gas separation performance demonstrates that the optimization of dual-layer spinning conditions with balanced elongational and shear rates is an effective approach to produce superior hollow fiber membranes for oxygen enrichment and natural gas separation.