Pyrolytic carbon membranes containing silica: morphological approach on gas transport behavior

Pyrolytic carbon membrane containing silica (C-SiO2) is a new-class material for gas separation, and in the present work we will deal with it in view of the morphological changes arising from the difference in the molecular structure of the polymeric precursors. The silica embedded carbon membranes were fabricated by a predetermined pyrolysis step using imide-siloxane copolymers (PISs) that was synthesized from benzophenone tetracarboxylic dianhydrides (BTDA), 4,4′-oxydianiline (ODA), and amine-terminated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). To induce different morphologies at the same chemical composition, the copolymers were prepared using one-step (preferentially a random segmented copolymer) sand two-step polymerization (a block segmented copolymer) methods. The polymeric precursors and their pyrolytic C-SiO2 membranes were analyzed using thermal analysis, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy, etc. It was found that the C-SiO2 membrane derived from the random PIS copolymer showed a micro-structure containing small well-dispersed silica domains, whereas the C-SiO2 membrane from the block PIS copolymer exhibited a micro-structure containing large silica domains in the continuous carbon matrix. Eventually, the gas transport through these C-SiO2 membranes was significantly affected by the morphological changes of the polymeric precursors.