Hydrogen (H 2 ) has become one of the promising alternative clean energy resources. Membrane technology is a potential method for hydrogen separation or production. This study aims to develop a new carbon membrane for hydrogen separation or production. Moreover, the permeation behavior of H 2 , CO 2 , and CH 4 through a hollow fiber composite carbon membrane derived from P84 co-polyimide and with incorporation of zeolite composite carbon (ZCC) was also examined. ZCC was synthesized via the impregnation method of sucrose into zeolite-Y pores, followed by carbonization at 800 °C. Thus, this filler has a high surface area, high microporosity, ordered pore structure, and low hydrophilicity. The presence of zeolites in ZCC is predicted to increase certain gases' affinity for the membrane. Various heating rates (1−5 °C/min) were applied during pyrolysis to understand the effect of the heating rate on the pore structure and H 2 /CO 2 and H 2 /CH 4 gas separation performance. Moreover, gas permeation was evaluated at various temperatures (298−373 K) to study the thermodynamic aspect of the process. A characteristic graphite peak was detected at 2θ ∼ 44°in all carbon samples. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations revealed the void-free surface and the asymmetric structure of the carbon membranes. During the permeation test, it was found that gas permeation through the membrane was significantly affected by the temperature of the separation process. The highest permeability of H 2 , CO 2 , and CH 4 was detected on the composite carbon membrane at a 3 °C/ min heating rate with a permeation temperature of 373 K. The thermodynamic study shows that CO 2 and H 2 have lower activation energies compared to CH 4 . The transport mechanism of the membrane involved adsorption and activated surface diffusion. The permeation temperature has a large impact on the transport of small penetrants in the carbon matrix.
Recently, natural gas (mostly methane) is frequently used as fuel, while hydrogen is a promising renewable energy source. However, each gas produced contains impurity gases. As a result, membrane separation is required. The mixed matrix membrane (MMM) is a promising membrane. The huge surface area and well-defined pore structure of zeolite templated carbon (ZTC)-based MMM allow for effective separation. However, the interfacial vacuum in MMM is difficult to avoid, contributing to poor separation performance. This research tries to improve separation performance by altering membrane surfaces. MMM PSF/ZTC was modified by annealing at 120, 150, and 190°C; coating using 0.01, 0.03, and 0.05 mol tetramethyl orthosilicate (TMOS); and a combination of both, i.e. annealing at 190°C and coating using 0.03 mol TMOS. MMM PSF/ZTC successfully significantly improved CO
2
/CH
4
selectivity by a combination of annealing at 190°C and coating 0.03 mol TMOS from 1.37 to 5.90 (331%), and H
2
/CH
4
selectivity by coating with 0.03 mol TMOS from 4.58 to 65.76 (1378%). The enhancement of selectivity was due to structural changes to the membrane that became denser and smoother, which SEM and AFM observed. In this study, annealing and coating treatments are the methods investigated for improving the polymer matrix and filler particle adhesion.
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