DEVELOPMENT OF ENHANCED IONIC LIQUID MIXED MATRIX MEMBRANES FOR CARBON DIOXIDE SEPARATION FROM METHANE

The low carbon dioxide (C02)/ methane (CH4 ) separation factor through mixed
matrix membranes (MMMs) is due to the lack of C02 affinity towards the membranes
and the presence of interfacial voids in the membranes. The main objective of present
study is to synthesize the enhanced MMMs (1L3Ms) by incorporating two different
types of imidazolium-based ionic liquids (!Ls) into the polyethersulfone (PES)
silicoaluminophosphate (SAP0-34) based MMM. This was achieved by blending
different concentrations of !Ls at a fixed PES-SAP0-34 mixture. The synthesized
membranes were physico-chemically characterized and the performances of these
membranes were evaluated in term of permeance and selectivity. The synthesized
membranes were found to have dense and voids-free structure with lower polymer
decomposition temperature ( -41 O"C) as compared with PES membrane.