Arginine/Nanocellulose Membranes for Carbon Capture Applications

Abstract

The present study investigates the influence of the addition of l-arginine to a matrix of carboxymethylated nanofibrillated cellulose (CMC-NFC), with the aim of fabricating a mobile carrier facilitated transport membrane for the separation of CO2. Self-standing films were prepared by casting an aqueous suspension containing different amounts of amino acid (15–30–45 wt.%) and CMC-NFC. The permeation properties were assessed in humid conditions (70–98% relative humidity (RH)) at 35 °C for CO2 and N2 separately and compared with that of the non-loaded nanocellulose films. Both permeability and ideal selectivity appeared to be improved by the addition of l-arginine, especially when high amino-acid loadings were considered. A seven-fold increment in carbon dioxide permeability was observed between pure CMC-NFC and the 45 wt.% blend (from 29 to 220 Barrer at 94% RH), also paired to a significant increase of ideal selectivity (from 56 to 185). Interestingly, while improving the separation performance, water sorption was not substantially affected by the addition of amino acid, thus confirming that the increased permeability was not related simply to membrane swelling. Overall, the addition of aminated mobile carriers appeared to provide enhanced performances, advancing the state of the art for nanocellulose-based gas separation membranes.

Pebax® 2533/Graphene Oxide Nanocomposite Membranes for Carbon Capture

“…Permeation tests were carried out with the system shown in Figure 5 , which has been designed to perform single gas permeability measurement using the so-called barometric technique [ 24 , 28 ]. All experiments have been conducted at 35 °C, with temperature maintained constant by using a heated water bath, which contained almost the entire system.…”

“…In order to overcome this tradeoff, several approaches have been considered, such as the use of “mixed matrix membranes” (MMM) which, indeed, have been intensively studied in recent years [ 16 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ]. In MMMs, different types of organic or inorganic nanofillers are included in the main polymeric matrix in order to provide high selectivity and, possibly also, high permeability.…”

Crosslinked Facilitated Transport Membranes Based on Carboxymethylated NFC and Amine-Based Fixed Carriers for Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Applications

“…Indeed, NFC displays high mechanical resistance and excellent barrier properties, and it is also biodegradable and biocompatible, highlighting this bio-based material as an excellent candidate in several applications such as packaging [58], paper and board [60], composites [61], printed electronics [62], biomedical devices [63], etc. Also, in the field of membranes, nanocellulose is gaining attention; in the last three years, several papers appeared using this material as a base for the production of gas separation membranes [52,53,[64][65][66]. To isolate NFC from fibers, an enzymatic or chemical pretreatment is performed in order to weaken cellulosic fibers interactions, as well as to reduce the energy consumption of the production process during the mechanical step [67][68][69][70].…”

“…In the current report, new bio based materials for CO 2 separation have been developed, based on cmNFC-PVAm crosslinked membranes with the presence of an aminosilane as a second fixed carrier to enhance the CO 2 permeability compared to the use of neat NFC [52,65,79], amino acids [64] or other type of aminosilane [79] in literature. The grafting of aminosilane has been optimized by following the hydrolysis/condensation reactions by 29 Si NMR analyses.…”

“…This overall combination represents an interesting approach to facilitate gas separation in membranes and the use of sustainable cellulosic materials. To the best of our knowledge, there are very few papers and amine-based functional groups in carbon capture membranes, mainly dealing with cmNFC-aminated polymers blends [52,64,65] or with NFC grafted with aminosilanes [79].…”