| Summary: |
The present project targets the development of disruptive carbon molecular sieve membranes (CMSM) that show no aging nor in contact with oxygen nor with water vapor. CMSM are potentially very attractive for industrial uses since their performances are positioned well above the Robeson upper bound. Moreover, they present unique characteristics such as superior thermal resistance, chemical stability in corrosive environments, high permeability as well as excellent selectivity compared to polymeric membranes.
However, CMSM are vulnerable to oxidation and pore blockage by vapors and namely by water vapor. When CMSM are exposed to air at room temperature, chemisorption of oxygen takes place forming C-O groups on the surface that favor H2O adsorption, and, consequently, the effective size of the micropores and gas diffusivity is drastically reduced. In our group, carbon molecular sieve membranes for gas separation were successfully prepared from a commercial film of cellophane paper at 550 °C. The great advantage of these carbon membranes is related to the fact that no traces of aging due to exposure to oxygen or water vapor had been observed. Furthermore, these membranes were extremely permeate to water vapor. This is very promising regarding CMSM use on recovery of methane from biogas or even oxygen separation from air. However, these unsupported flat sheet membranes are fragile and brittle. To overcome these disadvantages, the development of innovative alumina supported carbon molecular sieve membranes for gas separation, using cellophane polymer precursor as raw material is proposed, targeting their application in industrial processes and the use of this technology to produce hollow fiber carbon molecular sieve membranes. The achievement of membranes with these characteristics will be an important breakthrough in CMSM technology since their industrial application for gas purification of humid gas mixtures will be possible. This project will be carried out in coll  |
Summary
The present project targets the development of disruptive carbon molecular sieve membranes (CMSM) that show no aging nor in contact with oxygen nor with water vapor. CMSM are potentially very attractive for industrial uses since their performances are positioned well above the Robeson upper bound. Moreover, they present unique characteristics such as superior thermal resistance, chemical stability in corrosive environments, high permeability as well as excellent selectivity compared to polymeric membranes.
However, CMSM are vulnerable to oxidation and pore blockage by vapors and namely by water vapor. When CMSM are exposed to air at room temperature, chemisorption of oxygen takes place forming C-O groups on the surface that favor H2O adsorption, and, consequently, the effective size of the micropores and gas diffusivity is drastically reduced. In our group, carbon molecular sieve membranes for gas separation were successfully prepared from a commercial film of cellophane paper at 550 °C. The great advantage of these carbon membranes is related to the fact that no traces of aging due to exposure to oxygen or water vapor had been observed. Furthermore, these membranes were extremely permeate to water vapor. This is very promising regarding CMSM use on recovery of methane from biogas or even oxygen separation from air. However, these unsupported flat sheet membranes are fragile and brittle. To overcome these disadvantages, the development of innovative alumina supported carbon molecular sieve membranes for gas separation, using cellophane polymer precursor as raw material is proposed, targeting their application in industrial processes and the use of this technology to produce hollow fiber carbon molecular sieve membranes. The achievement of membranes with these characteristics will be an important breakthrough in CMSM technology since their industrial application for gas purification of humid gas mixtures will be possible. This project will be carried out in collaboration with Innovia Films Ltd, based in Wigton, Cumbria, United Kingdom, the leading global manufacturer on cellulose based films which has, in many countries, the registration of the trade mark Cellophane. |