Recent progress and challenges in membrane-based O2/N2 separation

Abstract

Abstract Compared with current conventional technologies, oxygen/nitrogen (O2/N2) separation using membrane offers numerous advantages, especially in terms of energy consumption, footprint, and capital cost. However, low product purity still becomes the major challenge for commercialization of membrane-based technologies. Therefore, numerous studies on membrane development have been conducted to improve both membrane properties and separation performance. Various materials have been developed to obtain membranes with high O2 permeability and high O2/N2 selectivity, including polymer, inorganic, and polymer-inorganic composite materials. The results showed that most of the polymer membranes are suitable for production of low to moderate purity O2 and for production of high-purity N2. Meanwhile, perovskite membrane can be used to produce a high-purity oxygen. Furthermore, the developments of O2/N2 separation using membrane broaden the applications of oxygen enrichment for oxy-combustion, gasification, desulfurization, and intensification of air oxidation reactions, while nitrogen enrichment is also important for manufacturing pressure-sensitive adhesive and storing and handling free-radical polymerization monomers.