Search

Membrane‐based gas separations are crucial for an energy‐efficient future. However, it is difficult to develop membrane materials that are high‐performing, scalable, and processable. Microporous organic polymers (MOPs) combine benefits for gas sieving and solution processability. Herein, we report membrane performance for a new family of microporous poly(arylene ether)s (PAEs) synthesized via Pd‐catalyzed C−O coupling reactions. The scaffold of these microporous polymers consists of rigid three‐dimensional triptycene and stereocontorted spirobifluorene, endowing these polymers with micropore dimensions attractive for gas separations. This robust PAE synthesis method allows for the facile incorporation of functionalities and branched linkers for control of permeation and mechanical properties. A solution‐processable branched polymer was formed into a submicron film and characterized for permeance and selectivity, revealing lab data that rivals property sets of commercially available membranes already optimized for much thinner configurations. Moreover, the branching motif endows these materials with outstanding plasticization resistance, and their microporous structure and stability enables benefits from competitive sorption, increasing CO2/CH4 and (H2S+CO2)/CH4 selectivity in mixture tests as predicted by the dual‐mode sorption model. The structural tunability, stability, and ease‐of‐processing suggest that this new platform of microporous polymers provides generalizable design strategies to form MOPs at scale for demanding gas separations in industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrating different modification strategies into a single step to achieve the desired properties of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) has been very synthetically challenging, especially in developing advanced MOF/polymer mixed matrix membranes (MMMs). Herein, we report a polymer–MOF (polyMOF) system constructed from a carboxylated polymer with intrinsic microporosity (cPIM-1) ligand. This intrinsically microporous ligand could coordinate with metals, leading to ~100 nm-sized polyMOF nanoparticles. Compared to control MOFs, these polyMOFs exhibit enhanced ultramicroporosity for efficient molecular sieving, and they have better dispersion properties in casting solutions to prepare MMMs. Ultimately, integrating coordination chemistries through the cPIM-1 and polymer-based functionality into porous materials results in polyMOF/PIM-1 MMMs that display excellent CO2 separation performance (surpassing the CO2/N2 and CO2/CH4 upper bounds). In addition to exploring the physicochemical and transport properties of this polyMOF system, scalability has been demonstrated by converting the developed MMM material into large-area (400 cm2) thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes. Microporous polymer ligand provides particle size reduction, enhanced ultramicroporosity (3–4 Å), and better colloidal stability in the polymer–metal–organic framework (polyMOF) system. This leads to defect-free and scalable composite membranes for efficient CO2 separation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gas‐separation polymer membranes display a characteristic permeability–selectivity trade‐off that has limited their industrial use. The most comprehensive approach to improving performance is to devise strategies that simultaneously increase fractional free volume, narrow free volume distribution, and enhance sorption selectivity, but generalizable methods for such approaches are exceedingly rare. Here, we present an in situ crosslinking and solid‐state deprotection method to access previously inaccessible sorption and diffusion characteristics in amine‐functionalized polymers of intrinsic microporosity. Free volume element (FVE) size can be increased while preserving a narrow FVE distribution, enabling below‐upper bound polymers to surpass the H2/N2, H2/CH4, and O2/N2 upper bounds and improving CO2‐based selectivities by 200 %. This approach can transform polymers into chemical analogues with improved performance, thereby overcoming traditional permeability–selectivity trade‐offs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen sorption between −20 °C and 70 °C and at pressures up to 60 bara was determined for a polyimide and corresponding thermally rearranged (TR) polymers prepared from 3,3′-dihydroxy-4,4′-diamino-biphenyl (HAB) and 2,2′-bis-(3,4-dicarboxyphenyl) hexafluoropropane dianhydride (6FDA). Hydrogen sorption increased by a factor of approximately 2.6 between the polyimide precursor and the most highly converted TR polymer. This relative increase in sorption was similar to that observed for other non-polar light gases such as N2, O2, and CH4, but less than that observed for CO2. Additionally, H2 sorption was measured for other polymers commonly studied in the membrane literature, including AF 2400, Matrimid®, polysulfone, and poly(dimethylsiloxane). Among the glassy polymers tested, polysulfone had the lowest H2 sorption, and the HAB-6FDA TR polymer had the highest H2 sorption. A slight dual-mode curvature was observed for H2 sorption in several of the glassy materials, and it was most pronounced at low temperatures and for the TR polymers. Enthalpies of sorption were also determined. The most exothermic enthalpy of sorption occurred in Matrimid®, and a slightly endothermic enthalpy of sorption was observed in rubbery poly(dimethylsiloxane). Comparisons between gravimetric and volumetric sorption showed similar results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: HAB-6FDA polyimide was synthesized from 3,3′-dihydroxy-4,4′-diamino-biphenyl (HAB) and 2,2′-bis-(3,4-dicarboxyphenyl) hexafluoropropane dianhydride (6FDA) by a two-step polycondensation method with chemical imidization. This polyimide was used as the precursor to prepare thermally rearranged (TR) polymers. The rearrangement reaction was performed at temperatures from 350 to 450°C. Based on mass loss during the TR process, TR conversion levels as high as 76% were observed. CO2 permeability increased from 12 Barrer in the precursor polyimide (HAB-6FDA) to 410 Barrer in the TR polymer prepared at 450°C, while pure gas CO2/CH4 selectivity decreased from 42 to 24. Both diffusivity and solubility increased following the rearrangement process, but the change in gas diffusivity was the largest contribution to the increase in permeability. From the polyimide to the sample heated at 450 for 30min, CO2 diffusivity increased by approximately a factor of 20 while solubility increased by a factor of 1.7. Similar changes were observed for other gases. Fractional free volume increased from 15% in the polyimide precursor to 20% in the TR polymer rearranged at 450°C. The HAB-6FDA TR polymers exhibited higher CO2 permeability than other classes of polymers with similar free volume, suggesting a free volume distribution in these TR polymers that favors high permeability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Perfluoropolymers have fundamentally distinct thermodynamic partitioning properties compared to those of their hydrocarbon counterparts. However, current upper bound theory assumes hydrocarbon solubility behavior for all polymers. Herein, the fundamental presupposition of invariance in solubility behavior to upper bound performance is critically assessed for perfluoropolymers and hydrocarbon polymers. By modifying solubility relationships, theoretical perfluoropolymer upper bounds are established, showing a positive shift of the upper bound front as a result of beneficial solubility selectivities for certain gas pairs, including N2/CH4, He/H2, He/N2, He/CH4, and He/CO2. Within the framework of the solution–diffusion model, an analysis is presented to compare two independent approaches often pursued in efforts to surpass the polymer upper bound: (a) achieving solubility selectivity via perfluoropolymers and (b) improving diffusion selectivity via rigid hydrocarbon polymers. This analysis demonstrates the significant benefit that can be achieved by considering both the chemical composition and morphology of solid‐state macromolecules when designing membrane materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Membrane gas separation is a mature and expanding technology. However, the availability of better membrane materials would promote faster growth. In this Perspective we analyze the state of the art of membrane materials, including polymers and hybrid materials, as well as the current issues and barriers, and finally, we outline future research directions in membrane science. Development of new membrane materials for large scale separations will rely on a multidisciplinary approach that embraces the broad fields of chemical and materials engineering, polymer science, and materials chemistry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the first time, a theoretical analysis of gas sorption, based on the nonequilibrium lattice fluid (NELF) model, in chemically imidized HAB-6FDA polyimide and its thermally rearranged analogues is presented. Because of the inaccessibility of pVT data in the rubbery region, the characteristic lattice fluid parameters of the polymers considered in this study were obtained from a collection of infinite dilution solubility data at multiple temperatures. Hydrogen, nitrogen, and methane sorption isotherms at 35 °C were fit to the NELF model using one adjustable parameter, i.e., the polymer-penetrant binary interaction parameter, k12. The optimal value of k12 for each polymer-penetrant pair was used to predict hydrogen, nitrogen, and methane sorption isotherms at other temperatures and at pressures up to 6 MPa. For carbon dioxide, a second adjustable parameter, the swelling coefficient, was introduced to account for sorption-induced matrix dilation. The ideal solubility-selectivity is also predicted for several gas pairs. The increase in gas sorption in thermally rearranged samples relative to their polyimide precursor is essentially due to entropic effects, i.e., to the increase in nonequilibrium fractional free volume during thermal rearrangement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While significant advancements have been made in the synthesis of microporous polymers for gas separations in the last two decades, little is known regarding structure–property relationships under industrially relevant conditions involving highly condensable gases such as H 2 S. Recent work on the mixed-gas transport in an amine-functionalized microporous PIM (PIM-NH 2) has demonstrated benefits of simultaneous plasticization resistance and competitive sorption for increased permselectivity in binary CO 2 /CH 4 mixtures. In this work, we elucidate the effects of analogous competitive sorption relationships through pure- and mixed-gas permeation in an amine-functional microporous poly(aryl ether) (PAE-NH 2) and provide comparisons with PIM-NH 2 and the corresponding nitrile-functional counterparts, PAE-CN and PIM-1. In binary mixed-gas tests, PAE-NH 2 show a 2.5- and 2.4-fold increase in CO 2 /CH 4 and CO 2 /N 2 mixed-gas permselectivities, respectively, compared to the pure-gas case. In 20/20/60 H 2 S/CO 2 /CH 4 mixtures, amine-functionalized derivatives retain increases in CO 2 /CH 4 selectivities compared to the nitrile-functional analogues. Additionally, PIM-NH 2 , PAE-CN, and PAE-NH 2 have excellent plasticization resistance in 50/50 CO 2 /CH 4 binary mixed-gas tests up to 26 atm. [Display omitted] • PIM-1, PAE-CN, and amine-functional (PIM-NH 2 , PAE-NH 2) polymers were measured in CO 2 /CH 4 , CO 2 /N 2 , H 2 S/CO 2 /CH 4 mixtures. • Competitive sorption was observed in all four materials, but effects were most apparent in the amine-functional membranes. • CO 2 - and H 2 S-based permselectivities increased from pure- to mixed-gas tests due to exclusion of N 2 /CH 4 from the polymer. • The amine-functional materials demonstrated excellent plasticization resistance up to 26 atm in a 50/50 CO 2 /CH 4 mixture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Membranes have the potential to substantially reduce energy consumption of industrial chemical separations, but their implementation has been limited owing to a performance upper boundÑthe tradeoff between permeability and selectivity. Although recent developments of highly permeable polymer membranes have advanced the upper bounds for various gas pairs, these polymers typically exhibit limited selectivity. We report a class of hydrocarbon ladder polymers that can achieve both high selectivity and high permeability in membrane separations for many industrially relevant gas mixtures. Additionally, their corresponding films exhibit desirable mechanical and thermal properties. Tuning of the ladder polymer backbone configuration was found to have a profound effect on separation performance and aging behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) represent the largest known class of porous crystalline materials ever synthesized. Their narrow pore windows and nearly unlimited structural and chemical features have made these materials of significant interest for membrane-based gas separations. In this comprehensive review, we discuss opportunities and challenges related to the formation of pure MOF films and mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs). Common and emerging separation applications are identified, and membrane transport theory for MOFs is described and contextualized relative to the governing principles that describe transport in polymers. Additionally, cross-cutting research opportunities using advanced metrologies and computational techniques are reviewed. To quantify membrane performance, we introduce a simple membrane performance score that has been tabulated for all of the literature data compiled in this review. These data are reported on upper bound plots, revealing classes of MOF materials that consistently demonstrate promising separation performance. Recommendations are provided with the intent of identifying the most promising materials and directions for the field in terms of fundamental science and eventual deployment of MOF materials for commercial membrane-based gas separations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Within a polymer thin film, free volume elements have a wide range of size and topology. This broad range of free volume element sizes determines the ability for a polymer to perform molecular separations. Herein, six permeable thermally rearranged (TR) polymers and their precursors were studied. Using atomistic models, cavity size (free volume) distributions determined by a combination of molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo methods were consistent with experimental observation that TR polymers are more permeable than their precursors. The cavity size distributions determined by simulation were also consistent with free volume distributions determined by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy. The diffusion, solubility and permeation of gases in TR polymers and their precursors were also simulated at 308 K, with results that agree qualitatively with experimental data. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]