Improvement of the Performance of PDMS Top Layer of Mixed Matrix Membrane Incorporated with Treated ZIF-8 for Gas Separation

Selectivity and permeability are two significant parameters in the gas separation process. Hence, nowadays, modification of membrane to improve the parameters mentioned above, have highly gained attention. In this study, to increase the performance of the polymeric membrane, bare ZIF-8 nanoparticle (NP), as well as annealed and NH2 -functionalized ones (Medium-sized particles less than 100 nm), were introduced into the structure of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) top layer at different concentrations. The high porosity and gas adsorption characteristics of the ZIF-8 made it a proper nanofiller to modify and improve the efficiency of polymeric membranes. The CO2 /N2 and O2 /N2 selectivity of the membranes improved regarding the loading ZIF-8. In addition, NH2 -functionalized and thermal annealed ZIF-8s employed to compare the result of the treated NPs on the efficiency of the fabricated MMMs. Consequently, the selectivity of both mentioned pair gases improved. At 2 wt% of annealed ZIF-8s, the mixed matrix membrane (MMM) presents a desired separation selectivity over 5.5 and 22.37 for O2 /N2 and CO2 /N2 , respectively.