Preparation and Characterization of Newly Developed Polysulfone/Polyethersulfone Blend Membrane for CO₂ Separation

Abstract

Polymeric membranes suffer from so called upper bound tradeoff between permeability and selectivity as described by Robeson. Polymer blending is a valuable technique to tune the properties of polymeric membranes by physical mixing of different polymers in a single mixture. In this study, preparation and characterization of newly developed polysulfone/polyethersulfone (PSF/PES) blend flat sheet dense membranes is described for CO2/CH4 separation. Blend membranes with different blending ratios were prepared and the developed membranes were characterized by FESEM, FTIR and TGA to see the effect of blend ratio on morphology, bonding and thermal stability respectively. Permeability of CO2 and CH4 gases in pressure range of 2-10 bar is recorded to find out the ideal selectivity of prepared membranes. The results are discussed and compared with individual polymer membranes.

Polysulfone/poly(ether sulfone) blended membranes for CO2 separation

“…This might have been due to interaction between the two polymers. The TGA results show a good agreement with previously reported studies . All of the blend membranes showed a single degradation peak in the TGA graph; this showed the miscibility of the PSF/PES blend in the whole compositional range.…”

“…Moreover, the shift in the CSO 2 C band from 1258.72 to 1275.84 cm −1 was also noticeable. These shifts might have been due to hydrogen bonding between the two polymers . In all of the membranes, the CH stretching peak of benzene appeared in the range 3093–3095 cm −1 .…”

“…The internal structure of PES was more tightly packed [Figure (e)] as compared to that of the PSF membrane [Figure (a)], and it had a superior gas‐separation performance. Thus, the passage of gas molecules was hindered because of the internal structure of PES; this resulted in a decreased permeability and increased selectivity . The PSF membrane was relatively soft compared to PES, and the diffusion of gas molecules was easier.…”

Plasticization and Swelling in Polymeric Membranes in CO2 Removal from Natural Gas

“…Different classes of polymers are not miscible with each other, which results in the formation of spongy structures in the membrane. In another study, Mannan et al [120] found that a PES/PSU blend membrane showed ideal selectivity in CO 2 /CH 4 separation at pressure ranges of 2-10 bar. Fig.…”

Enhanced gas separation performance of PSF membrane after modification to PSF/PDMS composite membrane in CO2/CH4 separation

“…11,20 PDMS was selected as selective layer coating material due to its higher thermal and chemical stability. 21 PDMS is a rubbery polymer with good gas/hydrocarbon separation performance due to its elastomeric nature.…”