Influence of Functionalized Nanoparticles on the CO2/N2 Separation Properties of PVA-based Gas Separation Membranes

This work investigated the influence of amino-functionalized polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (amine-POSS®) nanoparticles dispersed in a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix applied as a CO2-selective gas separation membrane. The nanoparticles belong to a class of highly branched nanosized polymers, so called POSS®. To improve the mechanical stability of the thin selective layer, the PVA-POSS® nanocomposite was deposited onto a polysulfone (PSf) support material. The influence of the ratio between PVA and amine-POSS® on the CO2 permeance and CO2/N2 selectivity, the effect of the degree of humidity of the feed gas, and the stability of the obtained hybrid membranes for a total period of 1000 h during exposure to SO2 at concentrations of up to 400 ppm were investigated.