SAPO-34 zeotype membrane for gas sweetening

Abstract

Abstract Membranes are considered promising tools for gas sweetening due to their lower footprint (i.e., area and energy requirement, considering elimination of solvent/absorbent and its associated regeneration procedures), and ease of scale-up. Performing membrane gas separation is strongly dependent on membrane materials. With a 0.38-nm pore size, the SAPO-34 membrane surpasses the upper bond limit for CO2/CH4 separation. However, preparing defect-free and high-performance zeolite membranes is quite challenging. This paper reviews gas transport and separation mechanisms in SAPO-34 membranes, and it discusses prospective approaches for obtaining membranes with defect-free selective layers and hence high separation performance. Highlights, as well as the authors’ perspectives on the future development of SAPO-34 membranes in the field of gas separation, are pointed out.