Understanding hydrogen solubility and free volume characteristics in charge-transfer phthalonitrile prepolymer and polyimide blend membranes
The increasing demand for hydrogen production has necessitated the development of H2-selective membranes. Polyimides are excellent membrane materials for gas separation; however, commercial polyimides generally lack sufficient H2 selectivity due to their low H2 affinity. Understanding the relationsh...
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sg-ntu-dr.10356-1711872023-10-17T02:03:31Z Understanding hydrogen solubility and free volume characteristics in charge-transfer phthalonitrile prepolymer and polyimide blend membranes Hu, Chun Po Lim, Jacob Song Kiat Ping, Kuo-Hsiang Hung, Wei-Song Liang, Yen Nan Hu, Xiao School of Materials Science and Engineering Interdisciplinary Graduate School (IGS) Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute Environmental Chemistry and Materials Centre Temasek Laboratories @ NTU Engineering::Materials Polyimide Polymer Blend The increasing demand for hydrogen production has necessitated the development of H2-selective membranes. Polyimides are excellent membrane materials for gas separation; however, commercial polyimides generally lack sufficient H2 selectivity due to their low H2 affinity. Understanding the relationship between gas transport properties and free volume microstructure is critical to advancing H2-selective membrane design. Herein, we report a facile material strategy to adjust the free volume characteristics and H2 separation performance via blending Matrimid (PI) and crosslinkable resorcinol-based phthalonitrile prepolymer (RPN) with electron donor/acceptor properties. The novel RPN30/PI70 membrane exhibits H2/N2 and H2/CO2 permselectivity of 1637 and 66.4, respectively, with H2 permeability of 2.7 Barrer in pure gas test, surpassing Robeson upper bounds (2008). The increased H2 permselectivity of RPN/PI membranes was attributed to the narrowed free volume size and distribution, giving rise to the considerably improved H2 solubility and selectivity of the blends. Moreover, the H2 permeability of crosslinked RPN30/PI70 membranes can be further improved via thermal treatment. The H2/CO2 mixed-gas test reveals that the H2 gas separation performance of the RPN30/PI70 membrane is influenced by plasticization effect and competitive sorption. This study demonstrates a new versatile strategy for designing high-performance hydrogen-selective polymeric membranes. Nanyang Technological University The authors would like to thank Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, for the research scholarship via the Interdisciplinary Graduate Programme. 2023-10-17T02:03:31Z 2023-10-17T02:03:31Z 2023 Journal Article Hu, C. P., Lim, J. S. K., Ping, K., Hung, W., Liang, Y. N. & Hu, X. (2023). Understanding hydrogen solubility and free volume characteristics in charge-transfer phthalonitrile prepolymer and polyimide blend membranes. Journal of Membrane Science, 687, 122058-. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2023.122058 0376-7388 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/171187 10.1016/j.memsci.2023.122058 2-s2.0-85171433995 687 122058 en Journal of Membrane Science © 2023 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. |
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Engineering::Materials Polyimide Polymer Blend Hu, Chun Po Lim, Jacob Song Kiat Ping, Kuo-Hsiang Hung, Wei-Song Liang, Yen Nan Hu, Xiao Understanding hydrogen solubility and free volume characteristics in charge-transfer phthalonitrile prepolymer and polyimide blend membranes |
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The increasing demand for hydrogen production has necessitated the development of H2-selective membranes. Polyimides are excellent membrane materials for gas separation; however, commercial polyimides generally lack sufficient H2 selectivity due to their low H2 affinity. Understanding the relationship between gas transport properties and free volume microstructure is critical to advancing H2-selective membrane design. Herein, we report a facile material strategy to adjust the free volume characteristics and H2 separation performance via blending Matrimid (PI) and crosslinkable resorcinol-based phthalonitrile prepolymer (RPN) with electron donor/acceptor properties. The novel RPN30/PI70 membrane exhibits H2/N2 and H2/CO2 permselectivity of 1637 and 66.4, respectively, with H2 permeability of 2.7 Barrer in pure gas test, surpassing Robeson upper bounds (2008). The increased H2 permselectivity of RPN/PI membranes was attributed to the narrowed free volume size and distribution, giving rise to the considerably improved H2 solubility and selectivity of the blends. Moreover, the H2 permeability of crosslinked RPN30/PI70 membranes can be further improved via thermal treatment. The H2/CO2 mixed-gas test reveals that the H2 gas separation performance of the RPN30/PI70 membrane is influenced by plasticization effect and competitive sorption. This study demonstrates a new versatile strategy for designing high-performance hydrogen-selective polymeric membranes. |
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School of Materials Science and Engineering |
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School of Materials Science and Engineering Hu, Chun Po Lim, Jacob Song Kiat Ping, Kuo-Hsiang Hung, Wei-Song Liang, Yen Nan Hu, Xiao |
format |
Article |
author |
Hu, Chun Po Lim, Jacob Song Kiat Ping, Kuo-Hsiang Hung, Wei-Song Liang, Yen Nan Hu, Xiao |
author_sort |
Hu, Chun Po |
title |
Understanding hydrogen solubility and free volume characteristics in charge-transfer phthalonitrile prepolymer and polyimide blend membranes |
title_short |
Understanding hydrogen solubility and free volume characteristics in charge-transfer phthalonitrile prepolymer and polyimide blend membranes |
title_full |
Understanding hydrogen solubility and free volume characteristics in charge-transfer phthalonitrile prepolymer and polyimide blend membranes |
title_fullStr |
Understanding hydrogen solubility and free volume characteristics in charge-transfer phthalonitrile prepolymer and polyimide blend membranes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Understanding hydrogen solubility and free volume characteristics in charge-transfer phthalonitrile prepolymer and polyimide blend membranes |
title_sort |
understanding hydrogen solubility and free volume characteristics in charge-transfer phthalonitrile prepolymer and polyimide blend membranes |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10356/171187 |
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1781793706102226944 |