By employing high resolution 1 H and 13 C NMR spectroscopy combined with elemental analysis and FTIR-ATR, we have determined the basic chemical structure of Extem XH 1015, a new brand of polyetherimide with good thermal, mechanical properties, and processability. Bisphenol-A dianhydride (BPADA) and diamino diphenyl sulfone (DDS) are found to be the monomers for this newly developed polyetherimide. The gas permeability of this new polymer is reported for the first time in the literature. Polysulfone (PSU) and Ultem are employed as reference samples for the elucidation of permeability and selectivity differences among them because of their structural similarities. In addition to qualitative comparison of chain rigidity and packing with gas transport properties, computational simulations powered by Material Studio are performed at a molecular level to quantitatively investigate the relationship between the fractional accessible volume (FAV) and gas permeability. The FAV differences among these polymers increase with an increase in gas molecules diameters; thus these polymers have similar permeability for small gas molecules but diverse for large gas molecules. Their selectivity differences are also discussed in terms of FAV ratio. The FAV concept is proved to be more effective than fractional free volume to analyze and predict gas separation performance.
A novel engineering approach on cross-linking modification of polyimide hollow-fiber membranes is reported. The concept is demonstrated using a dual-layer hollow-fiber membrane structure, where a polyimide {copoly[1,4-durene/1,3-phenylene-2,2-bis(3,4-dicarboxyphenyl)hexafluoropropanediimide] (6FDA-durene/mPDA) (50:50)} is chosen as the outer layer and poly(ether sulfone) (PES) is selected as the inner layer. Chemical cross-linking modification occurs at the outer polyimide layer by immersing the dual-layer hollow fibers in a 5% (w/v) p-xylenediamine/ methanol solution at ambient temperature for a short period of time. Fourier transform infrared studies show that chemical cross-linking modification takes place by the formation of amide groups through the reactions between p-xylenediamine and imide groups. The PES inner layer is found to be immune from the proposed chemical cross-linking modification and remains porous and flexible as a supporting layer. Pure gas tests show that chemical cross-linking modification of dual-layer hollow fibers results in a reduction in permeance but significantly enhances the CO 2 /N 2 and especially CO 2 /CH 4 selectivities. The proposed chemical cross-linking modification also makes the polymer more resistant to plasticization and thus reduces the CO 2 -induced increase in gas permeance.
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