Mixed Matrix Membranes for O2/N2 Separation: The Influence of Temperature

[EN] In this work, mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) composed of small-pore zeolites with various topologies (CHA (Si/Al = 5), LTA (Si/Al = 1 and 5), and Rho (Si/Al = 5)) as dispersed phase, and the hugely permeable poly(1-trimethylsilyl-1-propyne) (PTMSP) as continuous phase, have been synthesized via solution casting, in order to obtain membranes that could be attractive for oxygen-enriched air production. The O-2/N-2 gas separation performance of the MMMs has been analyzed in terms of permeability, diffusivity, and solubility in the temperature range of 298-333 K. The higher the temperature of the oxygen-enriched stream, the lower the energy required for the combustion process. The effect of temperature on the gas permeability, diffusivity, and solubility of these MMMs is described in terms of the Arrhenius and Van't Hoff relationships with acceptable accuracy. Moreover, the O-2/N-2 permselectivity of the MMMs increases with temperature, the O-2/N-2 selectivities being considerably higher than those of the pure PTMSP. In consequence, most of the MMMs prepared in this work exceeded the Robeson's upper bound for the O-2/N-2 gas pair in the temperature range under study, with not much decrease in the O-2 permeabilities, reaching O-2/N-2 selectivities of up to 8.43 and O-2 permeabilities up to 4,800 Barrer at 333 K.Financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) under project CTQ2012-31229, at the Universidad de Cantabria, and Severo Ochoa SEV-2012-0267 and MAT2012-38517, at the Instituto de Tecnología Química, is gratefully acknowledged. Ana Fernández-Barquín and Clara Casado-Coterillo also thank the MINECO for the Early Stage Researcher (BES2013-064266) and the “Ramón y Cajal” tenure-track (RYC2011-08550) contracts, respectively.Fernández-Barquín, A.; Casado-Coterillo, C.; Valencia Valencia, S.; Irabien, Á. (2016). Mixed Matrix Membranes for O2/N2 Separation: The Influence of Temperature. Membranes. 6(2):1-12. doi:10.3390/membranes6020028S1126