Progress in Applications of Polymer-Based Membranes in Gas Separation Technology

Separation of gases through polymeric membrane by selective transport has immense advantages such as light weight, economical, high process flexibility, and space requirements. Fabrication methods of polymeric membrane (polysulfone, polyimide, polyamide, polycarbonate) and their properties along with fundamental principles for gas separation mechanism are discussed in this review. Polysulfone membranes are fabricated by dry/wet phase inversion process to investigate membrane properties. Polyimide membranes show great potential for gas separation and reveal good selectivity for CO2/N2 and CO2/CH4 gas pairs. Transport characteristics of polycarbonate membrane are improved by functionalization. Superior properties allow potential use of polymeric membranes in large-scale industrial applications.