Development of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate membrane for facilitated CO2/N2 separation

Abstract

Abstract Carbon dioxide (CO2) is responsible for approximately 80% of greenhouse gases emission that is the main source to global climate change causing notable environmental impacts. Poly (ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) have polar PEG repeating units, which provide a strong affinity towards carbon dioxide (CO2) molecules has been blended with 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) to synthesize membrane for CO2/nitrogen (N2) separation. The new synthesized membrane is studied for potential applications in gas separation and to be implemented in control CO2 emission. APTMS is also used to delay the diffusion between polymer and solvent. In this study, concentration of polymer of PEGDA and casting solvent of APTMS in terms of mol ratio from a range of 0.9:1.1 to 1.3:0.7 is discussed. Based on the results, PEGDA membrane shows best gas separation performance at mol ratio of PEGDA to APTMS of 1:1 where the permeance for both CO2/N2, and CO2/N2 selectivity are 75.21±0.15 GPU, 22.95±0.05 GPU and 3.28±0.12, respectively. An optimal aminosilane/polymer reaction ratio benefits the gas separation performance of the membrane due to the affinity of the membrane towards CO2 and formation of different membrane surface morphology.