HIGH PERMEABILITY POLYMERS FOR USE IN MAKING HIGH PERFORMANCE MEMBRANES FOR GAS AND VAPOR SEPARATIONS

ALTHOUGH THE POTENTIAL ADVANTAGES OF USING MEMBRANE-BASED PROCESSES FOR ENERGY-EFFICIENT GAS AND VAPOR SEPARATIONS AREWELL KNOWN, CURRENT MEMBRANE SYSTEMS ADDRESS ONLY A SMALL FRACTION OF THE TOTAL SEPARATIONS MARKET, PRIMARILY BECAUSE THEY DO NOT OFFER THE COMBINATION OF HIGH PERMEABILITY AND HIGH SELECTIVITY TYPICALLY REQUIRED FOR MOST APPLICATIONS. TO INCREASE MEMBRANE SYSTEMS' SHARE OF THE SEPARATIONS MARKETS, MEMBRANE PERFORMANCE MUST BE IMPROVED SUBSTANTIALLY. THE PURPOSE OF THIS WORK IS TO INVESTIGATE NEW POLYMERS BASED ON SUBSTITUTED POLYACETYLENES-POLYMERS DIRECTLY RELATED TO POLYTRIMETHYLSILYLPROPYNE (PTMSP). PTMSP HAS THE HIGHEST PERMEABILITY REPORTED FOR A POLYMERIC SUBSTANCE, BUT HAS VERY LOW SELECTIVITY. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT BY PLACING THE PROPER SUBSTITUTENT GROUPS ONTO PTMSP OROTHER POLYACETYLENES, POLYMERS MIGHT BE SYNTHESIZED THAT HAVE PERMEABILITIES 5 TO 20 TIMES HIGHER THAN THOSE OF CURRENT MEMBRANE POLYMERS WITH THE SAME SELECTIVITY. MEMBRANES MADE FROM THESE HIGH PERMEABILITY, HIGH SELECTIVITY POLYMERS PROMISE TO SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE THE COSTS OF MANY SEPARATIONS AND TO ALLOW MEMBRANES TO CAPTURE A MUCH LARGER SHARE OF THE GAS- AND VAPOR-SEPARATIONS MARKET. THE PHASE I EFFORT AIMS TO DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF THE APPROACH BY SYNTHESIZING SUBSTITUTED POLYACETYLENES, DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL STRUCTURES, AND MEASURING THEIR GAS PERMEABILITIES AND SELECTIVITIES. OPTIMIZATION OF THE SYNTHESIS OF THESE POLYMERS AND THE PREPARATION OF HIGH PERMEABILITY MEMBRANES FROM THE POLYMERSSHOULD FOLLOW IN PHASE II, ALONG WITH EXTENSIVE TESTING OF THE MEMBRANES AND EVALUATION OF THEIR THERMAL AND MECHANICALPROPERTIES. THE PHASE II PROJECT IS TO PRODUCE RESULTS SUFFICIENT TO LEAD TO PHASE III SUPPORT OF FINAL DEVELOPMENTAND ULTIMATE COMMERCIALIZATION OF THE MEMBRANES.