ZIF-62 glass foam self-supported membranes to address CH4/N2 separations

DOI: 10.1038/s41563-023-01545-w

Authors: Zibo Yang (Tiangong University) , Youssef Belmabkhout (Mohammed VI Polytechnic University) , Lauren N. Mchugh (University of Cambridge) , De Ao (Tiangong University) , Yuxiu Sun (Tiangong University) , Shichun Li (Institute of Chemical Materials, China Academy of Engineering Physics) , Zhihua Qiao (Tiangong University) , Thomas D. Bennett (University of Cambridge) , Michael D. Guiver (Tianjin University) , Chongli Zhong (Tiangong University)
Co-authored by industrial partner: No

Type: Journal Paper
Journal: Nature Materials , VOL 345

State: Published (Approved)
Published: May 2023

Abstract: Membranes with ultrahigh permeance and practical selectivity could greatly decrease the cost of difficult industrial gas separations, such as CH4/N2 separation. Advanced membranes made from porous materials, such as metal–organic frameworks, can achieve a good gas separation performance, although they are typically formed on support layers or mixed with polymeric matrices, placing limitations on gas permeance. Here an amorphous glass foam, agfZIF-62, wherein a, g and f denote amorphous, glass and foam, respectively, was synthesized by a polymer-thermal-decomposition-assisted melting strategy, starting from a crystalline zeolitic imidazolate framework, ZIF-62. The thermal decomposition of incorporated low-molecular-weight polyethyleneimine evolves CO2, NH3 and H2O gases, creating a large number and variety of pores. This greatly increases pore interconnectivity but maintains the crystalline ZIF-62 ultramicropores, allowing ultrahigh gas permeance and good selectivity. A self-supported circular agfZIF-62 with a thickness of 200–330 µm and area of 8.55 cm2 was used for membrane separation. The membranes perform well, showing a CH4 permeance of 30,000–50,000 gas permeance units, approximately two orders of magnitude higher than that of other reported membranes, with good CH4/N2 selectivity (4–6).

Diamond Keywords: Gas Separation

Subject Areas: Materials, Chemistry


Instruments: I15-1-X-ray Pair Distribution Function (XPDF)

Added On: 19/05/2023 22:46

Discipline Tags:

Chemistry Materials Science Chemical Engineering Engineering & Technology Metal-Organic Frameworks Metallurgy Organometallic Chemistry

Technical Tags:

Scattering Total Scattering