In this study, the effect of compatibilizers on the gas separation performance of polycarbonate (PC) membranes was investigated. Membranes were prepared by solvent evaporation method. They were characterized by single gas permeability measurements of O2, N2, H2 and CO2 as well as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR).
Membranes containing 0.5 to 10 w% p-nitroaniline (pNA) were prepared to study the effect of compatibilizer concentration on the membrane performance. Permeabilities of all gases decreased but selectivities increased with pNA
concentration. The membranes with 5 w% pNA showed a selectivity of 114.5 for
H2 over N2, 53.9 for CO2 over N2 and 13.4 for O2 over N2 at room temperature, whereas, the H2/N2, CO2/N2 and O2/N2 selectivities for pure PC membranes were 43.5, 20.6 and 5.6, respectively. The N2 permeabilities through pure PC membrane and 5 w% pNA/PC membrane were 0.265 and 0.064 barrer, respectively.
The glass transition temperature of the membranes decreased with increasing pNA concentration. FTIR spectra showed that the peaks assigned to nitro and amine groups of pNA shifted and/or broadened. The DSC and FTIR results suggested an interaction between PC and pNA.
The effect of type of compatibilizer was also studied. The compatibilizers were 4-amino 3-nitro phenol (ANP), Catechol and 2-hydroxy 5-methyl aniline (HMA). Similar to membranes prepared with pNA, membranes prepared with these compatibilizers had a lower permeability and glass transition temperature but higher selectivity than pure PC membranes. Their FTIR spectra were also indicated a possible interaction between PC and compatibilizer.
In conclusion, PC/compatibilizer blend membranes for successful gas separation were prepared. Low molecular weight compounds with multifunctional groups were found to effect membrane properties at low concentration range, 0.5-5 w%.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:METU/oai:etd.lib.metu.edu.tr:http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/1262963/index.pdf |
| Date | 01 September 2003 |
| Creators | Sen, Deser |
| Contributors | Yilmaz, Levent |
| Publisher | METU |
| Source Sets | Middle East Technical Univ. |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | M.S. Thesis |
| Format | text/pdf |
| Rights | To liberate the content for public access |
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