CO2 permeation through poly(amide-6-b-ethylene oxide)-nanosilica membranes

The organic–inorganic hybrids of poly(amide-6-b-ethylene oxide) (PEBA) and silica utilizing aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) as precursor was prepared via sol–gel process and was compared with neat PEBA. The nanodispersed inorganic network produced in the organic matrix was structurally characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) that revealed the existence of different chemical groups corresponding to the silica precursors. The single gas permeability was carried out for neat PEBA and PEBA-nano silica (10 wt.% precursor) membranes. CO2 permeability for the neat polymer membrane was higher than the nano-composite membrane and increased with pressure. Adding 10 wt.% of nanosilica filler into the polymeric matrix caused CO2 permeability to decrease.