NOVEL HIGH PERFORMANCE GLASSY POLYMER COMPOSITE MEMBRANES FOR GAS SEPARATION

IN THE LAST DECADE, MANY HIGH-PERFORMANCE GLASSY POLYMERS, SUCH AS POLYIMIDES, THAT COMBINE HIGH GAS PERMEABILITY AND HIGH SELECTIVITY FOR ONE GAS OVER ANOTHER HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED. ALTHOUGH THESE NEW MEMBRANE MATERIALS HAVE VASTLY BETTER INTRINSIC GAS SEPARATION PROPERTIES THAN THE MATERIALS IN CURRENT USE, ESSENTIALLY NONE HAS BEEN USED IN COMMERCIAL MEMBRANES. THE PROBLEM IS THE LACK OF ADEQUATE, REPRODUCIBLE, LARGE-SCALE MEMBRANE FABRICATION TECHNOLOGY THAT IS APPLICABLE TO THESE POLYMERS. IN THIS PHASE I PROJECT, A NEW METHOD WILL BE DEVELOPED FOR PREPARING HIGH-PERFORMANCE MEMBRANES FROM GLASSY POLYMERS. UNLIKE EXISTING COMMERCIAL MEMBRANES MADE FROM GLASSY MATERIALS, THE MEMBRANES WILL BE MULTILAYER COMPOSITES IN WHICH THE GLASSY SELECTIVE LAYER IS COATED ONTO A HIGH-FLUX SUPPORT. THE SUPPORT ITSELF WILL HAVE TWO LAYERS, A MICROPOROUS SUBSTRATE AND A THIN, HIGHLY PERMEABLE SEALING LAYER. GENERAL PRINCIPLES WILL BE DERIVED FOR MAKING OPTIMIZED MULTILAYER COMPOSITE MEMBRANES WITH SELECTIVE LAYER THICKNESSES OF LESS THAN 0.1 MUM FROM ANY GIVE GLASSY POLYMER, AND MEMBRANES WITH POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS FOR SPECIFIC GAS SEPARATION APPLICATIONS WILL BE IDENTIFIED.