An Investigation on Gas Transport Properties of Cross-Linked Poly(ethylene glycol diacrylate) (XLPEGDA) and XLPEGDA/TiO2 Membranes with a Focus on CO2 Separation

Ali Ghadimi*, Somayeh Norouzbahari, Vahid Vatanpour, Fereidoon Mohammadi

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-based membranes are known as outstanding candidates for carbon dioxide (CO2) separation as the major greenhouse gas responsible for global warming. In this paper, gas transport properties (solubility, permeability, and diffusivity) of neat and nanocomposite cross-linked poly(ethylene glycol diacrylate) (XLPEGDA) membranes were investigated for CO2 as well as CH4, C2H4, C2H6, C3H8, H2, and N2 gases. XLPEGDA as a low-molecular-weight PEO, has not been studied much, compared to other PEO-based membranes such as poly(ether-block-amide) (PEBA) for CO2 capture. To make the conducted research more practical, the operating conditions were selected near to industrial operational conditions, i.e., in the temperature range of 35-75 °C and at pressures up to 16 bar. All membranes were synthesized by UV photopolymerization. To prepare nanocomposite membranes, inorganic titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles were incorporated within the polymeric matrix prior to its cross-linking. Structural properties of the prepared membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy energy-dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and density analysis. DSC and FTIR results confirmed completeness of the cross-linking reaction. SEM images showed homogeneous structure of the membranes and rather uniform dispersion of the TiO2 nanoparticles. It was found that incorporation of the TiO2 nanoparticles, more specifically at 3 wt % loading, results in enhancement of CO2 permeability and solubility by 39% and 18.5%, respectively. Furthermore, CO2 selectivity values over the investigated light gases including H2, CH4, and N2 increased by 16.2%, 15.6%, and 26.6%, respectively.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)5418-5432
Number of pages15
JournalEnergy and Fuels
Volume32
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 19 Apr 2018
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 American Chemical Society.

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