Fabrication of multi-layer composite hollow fiber membranes for gas separation

Using multilayer composite hollow fiber membranes consisting of a sealing layer (silicone rubber), a selective layer (poly(4-vinylpyridine)), and a support substrate (polysulfone), we have determined the key parameters for fabricating high-performance multilayer hollow fiber composite membranes for gas separation. Surface roughness and surface porosity of the support substrate play two crucial roles in successful membrane fabrication. Substrates with smooth surfaces tend to reduce defects in the selective layer to yield composite membranes of better separation performance. Substrates with a high surface porosity can enhance the permeance of composite membranes. However, SEM micrographs show that, when preparing an asymmetric microporous membrane substrate using a phase-inversion process, the higher the surface porosity, the greater the surface roughness. How to optimize and compromise the effect of both factors with respect to permselectivity is a critical issue for the selection of support substrates to fabricate high-performance multilayer composite membranes. For a highly permeable support substrate, pre-wetting shows no significant improvement in membrane performance. Composite hollow fiber membranes made from a composition of silicone rubber/0.1–0.5 wt% poly(4-vinylpyridine)/25 wt% polysulfone show impressive separation performance. Gas permeances of around 100 GPU for H₂, 40 GPU for CO₂, and 8 GPU for O₂ with selectivities of around 100 for H₂/N₂, 50 for CO₂/CH₄, and 7 for O₂/N₂ were obtained.     

PEBAX®2533/PSf中空纤维复合膜制备及阻力性能

采用浸渍涂层法制备了聚醚共聚酰胺(PEBAX®2533)/聚砜(PSf)中空纤维复合膜. 考察了涂层液浓度、 温度和基膜预处理对复合膜结构、 阻力及渗透性能的影响, 并考察了操作压力对膜渗透性能的影响. 实验结果表明, 随着涂层液浓度的增加, 复合膜致密层厚度及阻力增大, 复合膜总阻力及支撑层阻力先增大后减小, CO2渗透速率先减小后增大, 分离系数增大. 随着涂层温度升高, 复合膜致密层厚度及阻力减小, 支撑层阻力增大, 复合膜总阻力先减小后增大, 分离系数和渗透速率先增大后减小. 经过预处理, 复合膜致密层厚度减小、 阻力大幅度减小, CO2渗透速率增大58%, 分离系数略有下降. 复合膜支撑层阻力过大, 尤其是支撑层的致密结构影响复合膜的塑化行为.     

Fabrication of polymer/fluoride-containing salts blend composite membranes for CO_2 separation

Poly (N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate)-poly (ethylene glycol methyl ether methacrylate) (PDMAEMA-PEGMEMA) and cesium fluoride (CsF) were blended and used as the separation material of composite membranes.Hollow fiber composite membranes were fabricated by coating the blend on polysulfone (PSf) hollow fiber substrate.Introduction of fluorine ion improved the separation performance of the membrane.The concentration of coating solution was adjusted to obtain a membrane with high permeance.The composite membrane showed good performance with the CO2 permeance of 30.4 GPU (1 GPU=10-6 cm3 (STP)/(cm 2 s cmHg)),and selectivities to CO2/N2,CO2/CH4,CO2/H2 and O2/N2 of 47.2,37.6,1.75 and 4.70,respectively.Potassium fluoride (KF),due to its low cost,was also used as a substitute of CsF to prepare composite membrane and the permeation data showed that CsF can be replaced by KF.The effect of operating temperature on the permeation properties of the composite membrane was also investigated.     

Fabrication of polymer/fluoride-containing salts blend composite membranes for CO2 separation

Poly (N, N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate)-poly (ethylene glycol methyl ether methacrylate) (PDMAEMA-PEGMEMA) and cesium fluoride (CsF) were blended and used as the separation material of composite membranes. Hollow fiber composite membranes were fabricated by coating the blend on polysulfone (PSf) hollow fiber substrate. Introduction of fluorine ion improved the separation performance of the membrane. The concentration of coating solution was adjusted to obtain a membrane with high permeance. The composite membrane showed good performance with the CO2 permeance of 30.4 GPU (1 GPU = 10^-6 cm³(STP)/(cm²·s·cmHg)), and selectivities to CO2/N2, CO2/CH4, CO2/H2 and O2/N2 of 47.2, 37.6, 1.75 and 4.70, respectively. Potassium fluoride (KF), due to its low cost, was also used as a substitute of CsF to prepare composite membrane and the permeation data showed that CsF can be replaced by KF. The effect of operating temperature on the permeation properties of the composite membrane was also investigated.     

超支化聚酯低压纳滤膜的制备与表征

通过超支化聚酯(HPE)末端的羟基与戊二醛(GA)之间的羟醛缩合反应,采用简单的浸涂-交联方法,制备了一种以聚砜超滤膜为支撑层,交联的HPE为活性分离层的复合纳滤膜.采用衰减全反射红外光谱(ATR-FTIR)、接触角测定、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)对纳滤膜的表面化学组成、亲水性和膜形貌进行了表征.考察了HPE溶液浓度、GA溶液浓度对膜分离和渗透性能的影响,优化的HPE和GA溶液浓度分别为9.8 g/L和7.4 g/L,此时在0.4 MPa下膜的水通量达69.6 L/(m2.h),对Na2SO4脱除率为93.2%,表现出低操作压力、高通量、高脱盐率的优异性能.纳滤膜对无机盐的截留顺序为Na2SO4>NaCl>MgSO4>MgCl2,呈现明显的荷负电特征.     

Fabrication and Properties of Graphene Oxide/Sulfonated Polyethersulfone Layer-by-layer Assembled Polyester Fiber Composite Proton Exchange Membranes

Using the hydrogen-bonding interaction between graphene oxide(GO) and sulfonated polyethersulfone (SPES), we constructed the multilayer structure of GO and SPES on the polyester fiber mats via layer-by-layer self-assembly. In each self-assembled layer, sulfonic acid groups are arranged along the axis of fiber, which provides the long-range proton transmission channels, promoting the rapidly proton conduction. The performances of the composite membranes based on SPES and multilayer assembled polyester fiber mats were studied. The results show that the proton conductivity of composite membranes increases with the increasing assembly layers. At the same time, the mechanical properties and methanol-resistance of the composite membranes were obviously improved.     

P(AA-AMPS)–PVA/polysulfone composite hollow fiber membranes for propylene dehumidification

A series of composite hollow fiber membranes, poly(acrylic acid-co-2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propane sulfonic acid) (P(AA-AMPS))–poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) membranes as skin layers and polysulfone (PS) hollow fiber membranes as support layers, were prepared for dehumidification of propylene gas. The chemical and physical structures, including inter-components interaction, crystallinity, glass transition temperature and free volume of the membranes, were systematically characterized. Through the sorption experiments, it was found that the membrane exhibited a preferential sorption toward water, and initially the water sorption increased remarkably with P(AA-AMPS) content increasing, afterwards reached the zenith, then decreased rapidly. Dehumidification performance showed that the membrane containing 50 wt.% P(AA-AMPS) exhibited the highest permeance of 363 GPU and an infinite separation factor for 0.5 wt.% water in feed at 298 K. Permeance decreased considerably with increasing operating temperature, but increased considerably with increasing water content.     

制膜液黏度对单皮层PVDF中空纤维膜纺制的影响

以二甲基乙酰胺(DMAc)为溶剂,制备聚偏氟乙烯(PVDF)浓度为15%的制膜液,考察了DMAc同时作为内凝胶浴时膜结构的变化.为保持纺膜过程中的稳定性,分别考察了添加剂LiCl、水以及表面活性剂对制膜液黏度的影响.实验发现添加LiCl可以大大提高制膜液的黏度,而水作为添加剂时对黏度的影响与制膜液本身的浓度有关.在不提高制膜液浓度的基础上,通过提高制膜液黏度克服了膜在纺制过程中的不稳定问题,得到阻力较小的,指状孔贯穿的单外皮层中空纤维膜.     

Fabrication of high performance Matrimid/polysulfone dual-layer hollow fiber membranes for O2/N2 separation

Matrimid/polysulfone (PSf) dual-layer hollow fiber membranes were fabricated by using co-extrusion and dry-jet wet-spinning phase-inversion techniques. The effects of the spinning dope composition, spinneret dimension, spinneret temperature and the air gap distance on the hollow fiber membranes separation performance were studied. Aging phenomenon was also studied. After coated by 3 wt% silicon solution, the hollow fiber membranes have an O₂/N₂ selectivity of 7.55 at 25 °C, 506.625 kPa which exceeds the intrinsic value of Matrimid. The membranes have an O₂ permeance of 9.36 GPU with an apparent dense-layer thickness of 1421 Å calculated from the O₂ permeability. SEM images show the high porosity underneath the dense skin. It indicates that non-solvent addition is not necessary in the inner spinning dope to induce the macroviod formation. The binodals of the Matrimid/solvent/H₂O and PSf/solvent/H₂O indicate that the composition of the spinning dope plays an important role in the structure and the gas separation performance of the dual-layer hollow fiber membranes. The delayed demixing of the inner spinning dope may fabricate low resistance support layers in the dual-layer hollow fiber membranes.     

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.     

磺化聚醚砜/磷酸硼复合质子交换膜的制备与性能

采用sol-gel法成功制备了一系列有望用于高温质子交换膜燃料电池的新型磺化聚醚砜(SPES)/磷酸硼(BPO4)复合膜, 并经热重分析(TGA)-傅立叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)联用技术、差示扫描量热仪(DSC)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)等对膜的结构和性能进行了表征. 结果表明, 复合膜较纯SPES膜具有更高的热稳定性和玻璃化转变温度, 较低的溶胀性及较高的氧化稳定性; SEM图片显示BPO4在聚合物基体中的分布十分均匀, 这将有利于连续质子传输通道的形成; 复合膜的质子传导率随BPO4含量的增加而增加, 当温度超过120 ℃后, 复合膜仍保持着较高的质子传导率, 这表明该复合膜在高温质子交换膜燃料电池中具有良好的应用前景.     

Matrimid®5218/PSf双层非对称中空纤维膜的制备及其气体分离性能研究

以商业化聚酰亚胺Matrimid®5218作为功能层材料, 聚砜作为支撑层材料, 采用共挤出法制备双层非对称中空纤维气体分离膜. 所制备的双层非对称中空纤维膜具有致密无缺陷的超薄皮层, 致密皮层厚度约为0.21 μm. 在25 ℃, 0.5 MPa下, CO2/CH4的选择性系数达51.39, CO2的渗透系数为46.29 GPU, O2/N2的选择性系数达到7.13, O2的渗透速率为6.38 GPU. 考察了温度和压力对膜的渗透系数和选择性系数的影响, 并考察了物理老化对膜性能的影响.     

Immobilization of bovine serum albumin onto porous polyethylene membranes using strongly attached polydopamine as a spacer

Based on the self-polymerization and strong adhesion characteristics of dopamine in aqueous solution, a novel and convenient approach was developed to immobilize protein onto porous polyethylene (PE) membranes. A thin polydopamine (pDA) layer was formed and tightly coated onto PE membrane by dipping simply the membrane into dopamine aqueous solution for a period of time. Subsequently, bovine serum albumin (BSA) was bound onto the obtained PE/pDA composite membranes via the coupling between BSA and the reactive polydopamine layer. The firm immobilization of polydopamine layer and BSA was verified by attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results of water contact angle measurement showed that the hydrophilicity of PE membrane was significantly improved after coating polydopamine and binding BSA. The experiments of blood platelet adhesion indicated that BSA-immobilized PE membrane had better blood compatibility than the unmodified PE and the PE/pDA composite membranes. The investigations on hepatocyte cultures and cell viability revealed that the polydopamine coating endowed PE membrane with significantly improved cell compatibility. Compared to BSA surface, polydopamine surface is more favorable for cell adhesion, growth, and proliferation.     

Crosslinked chitosan composite membrane for the pervaporation dehydration of alcohol mixtures and enhancement of structural stability of chitosan/polysulfone composite membranes

Chitosan composite membranes having a microporous polysulfone substrate were prepared and tested for the pervaporation dehydration of aqueous isopropanol mixtures. When the composite membrane experienced excessive swelling at the feed mixture of high water content, the composite membranes were found to be segregated in structure due to the opposite characteristics to water of chitosan and polysulfone. Efforts to enhance the structural stability under various pervaporation operational conditions were made. The polysulfone substrate was immersed into hydrophilic binding polymer solutions such as polyvinyl alcohol, polyacrylic acid, and hydroxyethylcellulose before the casting of chitosan layer to increase the affinity between the thin chitosan layer and porous polysulfone layer which resulted in increased geometrical stability of the chitosan/polysulfone composite membranes. The chitosan layer was crosslinked with glutaraldehyde and H₂SO₄ in acetone solution to control the permselectivity.     

界面聚合制备新型荷正电纳滤膜

以聚砜超滤膜为基膜,聚乙烯亚胺、均苯三甲酰氯为界面聚合单体,水和正己烷分别为两相溶剂,通过界面聚合方法制备荷正电纳滤膜。实验着重考察了Na2SO4-PEG400-H2O三元混合体系的分离情况,结果表明,该膜可有效地实现低分子量有机物与Na2SO4的分离;另外,随着Na2SO4或PEG400浓度的增大,膜对Na2SO4和PEG400的截留率有所降低。     

Hydrophilic nanofiltration membranes with self-polymerized and strongly-adhered polydopamine as separating layer

Inspired by the self-polymerization and strong adhesion characteristics of dopamine in aqueous conditions,a novel hydrophilic nanofiltration（NF） membrane was fabricated by simply dipping polysulfone（PSf） ultrafiltration（UF） substrate in dopamine solution.The changes in surface chemical composition and morphology of membranes were determined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy（FTIR-ATR）,X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy（XPS）,scanning electron microscopy（SEM） and atomic force microscopy（AFM）.The experimental results indicated that the self-polymerized dopamine formed an ultrathin and defect-free barrier layer on the PSf UF membrane.The surface hydrophilicity of membranes was evaluated through water contact angle measurements.It was found that membrane hydrophilicity was significantly improved after coating a polydopamine（pDA） layer,especially after double coating.The dyes filtration experiments showed that the double-coated membranes were able to reject completely the dyes of brilliant blue,congo red and methyl orange with a pure water flux of 83.7 L/（m²·h） under 0.6 MPa.The zeta potential determination revealed the positively-charged characteristics of PSf/pDA composite membrane in NF process.The salt rejection of the membranes was characterized by 0.01 mmol/L of salts filtration experiment.It was demonstrated that the salts rejections followed the sequence:NaCl2SO₄422,and the rejection to CaCl₂ reached 68.7%.Moreover,the composite NF membranes showed a good stability in water-phase filtration process.     

Interfacially polymerized thin film composite membranes on microporous polypropylene supports for solvent-resistant nanofiltration

Interfacial polymerization (IP) is a powerful technique for fabrication of thin film composite (TFC) membranes. The polymers used most often as support are polysulfone (PS) or polyethersulfone (PES). These supports have limited stability in organic solvents. In this work, microporous polypropylene (PP) flat film and hollow fiber membranes were used as a support to fabricate TFC membranes for nanofiltration by the IP technique. Porous polypropylene membranes can provide substantial chemical, pH, and solvent resistance and are therefore suitable as supports for fabricating TFC membranes functioning as solvent-stable nanofiltration membranes. The surface and the pore interior of polypropylene flat sheet and hollow fiber membranes were hydrophilized first by pre-wetting with acetone followed by oxidation with chromic acid solution. A standard procedure to successfully coat the hydrophilized flat film and hollow fiber membranes was developed next. The monomeric system chosen for IP was poly(ethyleneimine) and isophthaloyl dichloride. The TFC hollow fiber membranes were characterized by nanofiltration of safranin O (MW 351) and brilliant blue R (MW 826) dyes in methanol. Rejection values of 88% and 43% were achieved for brilliant blue R and safranin O, respectively at a transmembrane pressure of 413 kPa in the TFC hollow fiber membranes. Pressure dependences of the solvent flux and solute rejection of the TFC membranes were studied using the modified flat sheet membranes up to a pressure of 965–1241 kPa. Solvent flux increased linearly with an increase in the transmembrane pressure. Solute rejection also increased with an increase in the transmembrane pressure. All modified membranes were also characterized using scanning electron microscopy. Extended-term solvent stability of the fabricated membranes was studied in toluene; the membranes demonstrated substantial solvent stability in toluene.     

Sulfonated hydrocarbon graft architectures for cation exchange membranes

A synthetic strategy to hydrocarbon graft architectures prepared from a commercial polysulfone and aimed as ion exchange membrane material is proposed. Polystyrene is grafted from a polysulfone macroinitiator by atom transfer radical polymerization, and subsequently sulfonated with acetyl sulfate to various degrees. Series of grafting densities and graft lengths are prepared, and membranes are solvent cast from DMSO. The membrane properties in aqueous environments are evaluated from their water swelling behavior, and their thermal properties and stability are investigated by thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry.     

Enhanced dehumidification performance of PVA membranes by tuning the water state through incorporating organophosphorus acid

A novel thin film composite membrane with superior propylene dehumidification performance was prepared by coating a high hydrophilic organophosphorus acid ethylene diamine tetra(methylene phosphonic acid) (EDTMPA) doped poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) on polysulfone (PS) hollow fiber membranes. Experimental studies and molecular dynamics simulations were combined to probe the existing states and the transport mechanism of water in the membranes. Water vapor sorption experiments revealed that the enhanced dehumidification performance was governed by the diffusion process. Water states and water distribution were investigated by molecular dynamics simulation. At low EDTMPA content (<10 wt.%), states of the water were not obviously changed and the increase of water diffusion coefficient was mainly attributed to enlarged free volume of the membrane. At high EDTMPA content (10–30 wt.%), the increase in the water diffusion coefficient mainly arose from the variations in the water states. Strong interaction between PVA and EDTMPA reduced the amount of water that bounded to the PVA and increased the proportion of free water. The diffusion coefficients of water increased with increasing proportion of free water, since the mobility of free water was higher than that of bound water. The permeance of water reached 997.7 GPU for the PVA–EDTMPA/PS membrane with a 20 wt.% EDTMPA content when the proportion of free water was the highest, and the separation factor increased to infinity.