CO2 permeation through poly(amide-6-b-ethylene oxide)-nanosilica membranes

The organic-inorganic hybrids of poly(amide-6-b-ethylene oxide) (PEBA) and silica utilizing aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) as precursor was prepared via sol-gel process and was compared with neat PEBA. The nanodispersed inorganic network produced in the organic matrix was structurally characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) that revealed the existence of different chemical groups corresponding to the silica precursors. The single gas permeability was carried out for neat PEBA and PEBA-nano silica (10 wt.% precursor) membranes. CO2 permeability for the neat polymer membrane was higher than the nano-composite membrane and increased with pressure. Adding 10 wt.% of nanosilica filler into the polymeric matrix caused CO2 permeability to decrease.