Blend Cellulose Acetate/Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Mixed Matrix Membrane for CO2/N2 Separation

Abstract

The carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has been increasing extensively over the past decades, which is a major contributor to the global warming phenomenon. Therefore, a highly performing and high cost efficiency membrane technology was proposed to selectively separate the hazardous CO2. Hence, a Mixed Matrix Membrane (MMM) was incorporated for CO2/N2 separation with prospects to surpass the numerous shortcomings of conventional membranes. Thus, this study utilized cellulose acetate (CA) with acetyl content of 39 wt% and 56 wt% blended with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) to fabricate the MMMs. The gas permeation results had showed that MMMs with functionalized MWCNTs (MWCNTs-F) had demonstrated enhanced separation properties of CO2/N2 with a selectivity of 3.084 + 0.019 in comparison to pristine MWCNTs and blend CA-membrane. Hence, the loadings of MWCNTs-F towards the separation performances of the MMMs were then investigated. The CO2/N2 selectivity from the gas permeation results showed an increased to 3.72+0.014 with optimal loadings of 0.20 wt% of MWCNTs-F within the polymer matrix. The superior performance of the MMM was attributed to the additional developments in the overall sufficient free volumes between the polymer chains. Eventually, the MMM showed insight towards the industrial applications in the gas separation field.