Separation Science and Technology, Vol.47, No.7, 950-962, 2012
Gas Separation Properties of Polyimide-Zeolite Mixed Matrix Membranes
Mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) of polyimide (PI) and zeolite 13X, ZSM-5 and 4A were prepared by a solution-casting procedure. The effect of zeolite loading, pore size, and hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity of zeolite on the gas separation properties of these mixed matrix membranes were studied. Experimental results indicate that permeability of He, H-2, CO2, and N-2 increased with zeolite loadings. Selectivity of H-2/N-2 shows a slight improvement for low loadings of zeolites 13X and ZSM-5 but has a decreasing trend for zeolite 4A and high loadings of zeolites 13X and ZSM-5. In addition, selectivity of H-2/CO2 remains low (1-3) while selectivity of CO2/N-2 is significantly improved with the incorporation of the three zeolites in the polyimide membrane. Experimental permeabilities are higher than those predicted by the Maxwell model except for H-2 and N-2 permeabilities of the PI-4A system which are consistent with the predicted permeabilities. The proposed modified Maxwell model is capable of predicting the permeabilities of polyimide-zeolite 4A MMMs, but fails to simulate the permeability increase induced by interface voids in the polyimide-zeolite 13X and ZSM-5 systems.