Hydrogen-sieving zeolitic films by coating zeolite nanosheets on porous polymeric support

Mostapha Dakhchoune, Xuekui Duan, Luis Francisco Villalobos, Claudia Esther Avalos, Kumar Varoon Agrawal

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The synthesis of high-performance gas-sieving zeolitic film is challenging because it involves seeded secondary growth which is complex and difficult to reproduce. Additionally, expensive asymmetric inorganic porous supports are often needed for calcination of the zeolite films. Herein, scalable preparation of H2-sieving RUB-15 nanosheet films is reported bypassing the need for secondary growth and expensive supports. A novel, low-cost, thermally-robust, porous polybenzimidazole copolymer (PBI- AM Fumion®) support is prepared which allows deposition of thin, compact, and oriented RUB-15 nanosheets films without cracks or pinhole defects. The film hosts two transport pathways, H2-sieving six-membered silicate rings in the nanosheets and nonselective intersheet gaps maintained by the organic guest species in the gallery spacing. The latter is eliminated by a low-temperature (330 °C) calcination where the crystalline order in the nanosheets is preserved. The resulting zeolitic films yielded H2 permeances of 100–400 GPU and H2/CO2 selectivities above 20 at temperatures above 200 °C. The facile and scalable fabrication procedure with an attractive H2-sieving performance at elevated temperatures make these membranes promising for pre-combustion carbon capture.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number121454
JournalJournal of Membrane Science
Volume672
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 15 2023

Keywords

  • Hydrogen sieving
  • Polybenzimidazole
  • Polymeric support
  • RUB-15
  • Sodalite nanosheets
  • Zeolitic membranes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry
  • Materials Science(all)
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
  • Filtration and Separation

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