Mixed-Matrix Composite Membranes Based on UiO-66-Derived MOFs for CO2 Separation

Hossein Molavi; Akbar Shojaei

doi:10.1021/acsami.8b20869

Mixed-Matrix Composite Membranes Based on UiO-66-Derived MOFs for CO₂ Separation

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2019 Mar 6;11(9):9448-9461. doi: 10.1021/acsami.8b20869. Epub 2019 Feb 25.

Authors

Hossein Molavi¹, Akbar Shojaei^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (INST) , Sharif University of Technology , P.O. Box 11155-8639, Tehran , Iran.
² Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering , Sharif University of Technology , P.O. Box 11155-9465, Tehran , Iran.

PMID: 30724557
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.8b20869

Abstract

We demonstrated a novel mixed-matrix composite membrane (MMCM) based on acrylated polyurethane (APU) and UiO-66 nanoparticles to separate CO₂/N₂ mixture. UiO-66 and functionalized UiO-66 including NH₂-UiO-66 and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA)-UiO-66 were loaded into APU/2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (APUH) matrix at variable concentrations between 3 and 30 wt %. APUH/GMA-UiO-66 MMCMs exhibited strong adhesion with a support layer of polyester/polysulfone, which was not deteriorated after immersion in water for a long time (20 days). Incorporation of UiO-66 and its functionalized forms increased simultaneously permeability and CO₂/N₂ selectivity, which were indeed superior in comparison with those of MMCMs reported previously. GMA-UiO-66-filled MMCM displayed a CO₂ permeance of 14.5 Barrer and a CO₂/N₂ selectivity of 53 at a critical concentration (25 wt %). This attractive separation performance of APUH/UiO-66 offered an exciting platform for the development of composite membranes for sustainable CO₂ separations.

Keywords: UV-curable acrylate polyurethane; UiO-66; gas separation; metal−organic framework; mixed-matrix composite membranes.