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Innovative CO2 Separation Membranes

This project aims to develop efficient, low-cost membranes for separating carbon dioxide (CO2) from other gases through sub-nanoscale control of materials. Researchers will optimize polymer and inorganic membranes to increase CO2 permeability and selectivity for capture from flue gases. For polymer hollow fiber membranes, the outer surface will be carbonized to restrict thermal motion and enhance molecular selectivity. Zeolite membranes will be grown as a thin, ordered mono-layer crystal coating to demonstrate superior permeability without defects compared to randomly oriented crystals. Controlling membrane pore spaces on scales comparable to gas molecule size differences could allow economically viable CO2 separation for reducing emissions.

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85 views2 pages

Innovative CO2 Separation Membranes

This project aims to develop efficient, low-cost membranes for separating carbon dioxide (CO2) from other gases through sub-nanoscale control of materials. Researchers will optimize polymer and inorganic membranes to increase CO2 permeability and selectivity for capture from flue gases. For polymer hollow fiber membranes, the outer surface will be carbonized to restrict thermal motion and enhance molecular selectivity. Zeolite membranes will be grown as a thin, ordered mono-layer crystal coating to demonstrate superior permeability without defects compared to randomly oriented crystals. Controlling membrane pore spaces on scales comparable to gas molecule size differences could allow economically viable CO2 separation for reducing emissions.

Uploaded by

Pendi Adi Merta
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

CO2 CAPTURE

Global Climate & Energy Project

STANFORD UNIVERSITY
Development of Innovative Gas Separation
Membranes Through Sub-Nanoscale Materials Control
Investigators
Koichi Yamada, Shingo Kazama, Katsunori Yogo, and Yuichi Fujioka, Research Institute for
Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE)

Objective
Separating CO2 from other gases present in flue or synthesis gas, in conjunction with a suitable
means of storing the CO2, could allow the utilization of abundant fossil fuel reserves with
significantly decreased emissions of CO2 to the atmosphere. This project intends to develop a
variety of efficient, low-cost polymeric and inorganic membranes that separate CO2. Material
structure engineering at the scale of gas molecules will be used to increase permeability and
selectivity.

Background
Membrane separation of CO2 from other gases is an active field, but the best membranes today
are likely too energy intensive and expensive to be implemented on a large scale. Gas
separation in membranes is driven by a pressure difference on either side of the membrane.
Decreasing the required pressure difference by increasing the permeability of the membrane
would reduce energy costs and required membrane area. However, in order to obtain a
sufficiently pure stream of CO2, the selectivity for CO2 must also be high. Many current systems
require cascading the permeate through multiple membrane stages to achieve the desired purity.
Two areas of gas separation membrane research are polymer and inorganic membranes.
Polymer membranes are relatively easy to manufacture and are suited for low temperature
applications. The polymer morphology and mobility determine the gas permeability and
selectivity. Figure 1 shows an asymmetric hollow fiber membrane. A thin layer of functional
cardo polyimide material supported by a porous structure allows high permeability.
Separation
layer is 10 nm
thick and
pinhole-free.

100m

50 nm

Figure 1: Cardo polyimide hollow fiber membrane with a thin, functional outer layer.
Inorganic membranes have much greater thermal and chemical stability. Appropriately sized
pores in materials including zeolites and silicas can act as molecular sieves that separate gas
molecules by effective size. Surface adsorption and diffusion inside the pores can also play a

Issued August 2005

role. Figure 2 illustrates gas separation using an ordered array of pores in an inorganic material.
Defects in the pore structure can have a large negative effect on selectivity.

Approach
Since the effective size of CO2, N2, H2, and other
gases present in fossil fuel conversion systems
are very similar, membrane pore spaces must be
controlled on a scale comparable to the size
differences among these gas molecules. This will
be achieved for a variety of membrane types using
several different techniques.
Hollow fiber cardo polymer membranes will be
optimized for CO2 permeability and selectivity, for
example, by carbonizing the outer surface of the
membrane. Thermal motion of organic polymers
can cause variations in the morphology and
effective
pore
size
of
the
membrane.
Carbonization by UV, plasma, or ion beam
treatment could serve to restrict the thermal
motion of the polymer chain and enhance the
molecular gate function of the polymer.
Functionalizing the polymer may change its
morphology at the sub-nanoscale level, allowing
for fine tuning of the pore space.

Figure 2: Porous inorganic membranes


act as molecular sieves, differentiating gas
molecules by effective size.

While most zeolite membranes consist of randomly oriented crystals, a thin, mono-layer crystal
with an ordered lattice of pores would demonstrate superior permeability and freedom from
defects. As illustrated in Figure 3, this will be achieved by applying a coating of seed crystals on
a substrate with perpendicularly oriented channels. After secondary crystal growth, the properties
of the resulting pore structure will reflect the morphology of the seed crystal.

Figure 3: Functionalization process for a mono-layer crystalline zeolite pore structure.

Issued August 2005

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