Hybrid silica membranes with enhanced hydrogen and CO2 separation properties

Hybrid silica membranes are of great interest for molecular separation owing to their outstanding hydrothermal stability. Despite good separation properties in liquid applications, the selectivity for gas separations has yet been too low. Here, we report membranes from 1,2-bis(triethoxysilyl)ethane (BTESE) with H2/N2 permselectivity between 50 and over 400. The membranes are fabricated from a dip-sol with a H+:Si ratio of 0.01 that is applied onto a support system with a controlled low water content (pre-treated at RH