Polymeric molecular sieve membranes via in situ cross-linking of non-porous polymer membrane templates

CATEGORY: MOLECULAR SIEVES 
Polymeric molecular sieve membranes via in situ cross-linking of non-porous polymer membrane templates

Type	Journal Article
Author	Zhen-An Qiao
Author	Song-Hai Chai
URL	http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/140416/ncomms4705/full/ncomms4705.html?message-global=remove#affil-auth
Volume	5
Publication	Nature Communications
Date	April 16, 2014
Abstract	High-performance polymeric membranes for gas separation are promising for molecular-level separations in industrial-scale chemical, energy and environmental processes. Molecular sieving materials may be considered to be the next-generation membranes to simultaneously achieve high permeability and selectivity. However, most polymeric molecular sieve membranes are based on a few solution-processable polymers such as polymers of intrinsic microporosity. Authors present an in situ cross-linking strategy for the preparation of polymeric molecular sieve membranes with hierarchical and tailorable porosity. These membranes exhibit superior performance as molecular sieves with high gas permeabilities and selectivities for smaller gas molecules, such as carbon dioxide and oxygen, over larger molecules such as nitrogen. Accordingly, these membranes have potential for large-scale gas separations of commercial and environmental relevance. In addition, this strategy could provide a possible alternative to ‘classical’ methods for the preparation of porous membranes and, in some cases, the only viable synthetic route towards certain membranes.