Gas permeation properties of bridged-type organosilica membranes at extremely low temperatures and the application to oxygen separation.

A bridged-type organosilica, bis(triethoxysilyl)methane (BTESM) membrane was evaluated in detail for single-gas permeation at temperatures ranging from −130 to −200 °C, and for binary (O 2 /He, O 2 /N 2) separation at 30 and -115 °C, respectively. The permeance of He, Ar, and N 2 demonstrated a trend of activated diffusion as permeance increased with an increase in the temperature; O 2 permeance, however, reached its maximum value at about −80 °C. O 2 permeance increased with a decrease in the temperature (30 to −80 °C), and permeance then gradually decreased (−80 to −130 °C), which demonstrates surface diffusion. In the case of O 2 /He binary separation, both O 2 and He permeated according to molecular sieving at 30 °C, but at −115 °C, O 2 /He selectivity was enhanced approximately 10-fold due to permeation blockage by adsorbed O 2. On the other hand, in the case of O 2 /N 2 binary separation at −115 °C, the effect of permeation blocking by adsorbed O 2 permeance was lessened due to the effect of competitive adsorption, which translated to a level of O 2 /N 2 selectivity that was only 1.5-fold higher than that at 30 °C. [Display omitted] • Hydrophobic organosilica membranes suppressed decreases in gas permeance at temperatures as low as −130 °C. • Organosilica membranes showed dependable stability at −130 °C. • Adsorption of O 2 at extremely low temperatures enhanced the O 2 separation performance. • Molecular sieving dominated the O 2 separation mechanism at 30 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]