Enhanced gas separation performance of nanocomposites based on a polymer with intrinsic microporosity PIM-1 and phenethyl-POSS
- In times of the energy revolution, the need for energy efficient separation processes promotes the advancement of new high performance materials for use as highly selective separation membranes. Most promising materials in this field, especially for gas separation, are polymers with intrinsic microporosity (PIMs) which were firstly introduced by Budd and McKeown. In this study the permeability of PIM-1 was increased by 439 % by formation of nanocomposites with only 1 wt% of polyhedral oligomeric phenethyl-silsesquioxane (PhE-POSS) within the polymer matrix. As the CO2/CH4 selectivity is fully retained, this leads to a shift in the Robeson plot towards the upper bound. The Robeson plot describes the current state of the art trade-off relation between selectivity and permeability of all known membrane polymers. As molecular mobility is a key factor for gas transport as well as the often observed physical aging of such polymers, our study also includes for the first time, molecularIn times of the energy revolution, the need for energy efficient separation processes promotes the advancement of new high performance materials for use as highly selective separation membranes. Most promising materials in this field, especially for gas separation, are polymers with intrinsic microporosity (PIMs) which were firstly introduced by Budd and McKeown. In this study the permeability of PIM-1 was increased by 439 % by formation of nanocomposites with only 1 wt% of polyhedral oligomeric phenethyl-silsesquioxane (PhE-POSS) within the polymer matrix. As the CO2/CH4 selectivity is fully retained, this leads to a shift in the Robeson plot towards the upper bound. The Robeson plot describes the current state of the art trade-off relation between selectivity and permeability of all known membrane polymers. As molecular mobility is a key factor for gas transport as well as the often observed physical aging of such polymers, our study also includes for the first time, molecular dynamics and conductivity of pure PIM-1 and PIM-1 nanocomposites as investigated by broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS).…