Thin-film composite (TFC) polymeric membranes have attracted increasing interest to meet the demands of industrial gas separation. However, the development of high-performance TFC membranes within their current configuration faces two key challenges: (i) the thickness-dependent gas permeability of polymeric materials (mainly poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)) and (ii) the geometric restriction effect due to the limited pore accessibility of the underlying porous substrate. Here we demonstrate that the incorporation of trace amounts (∼1.8 wt %) of amorphous metal-organic framework (MOF) nanosheets into the gutter layer of TFC assemblies can simultaneously address these two limitations by the creation of rapid, transmembrane gas diffusion pathways. The resultant PDMS&MOF membrane displayed excellent CO2 permeance of 10450 GPU and CO2/N2 selectivity of 9.1. Leveraging this strategy, we successfully fabricate a novel TFC membrane, consisting of a PDMS&MOF gutter and an ultrathin (∼54 nm) poly(ethylene glycol) top selective layer via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization. The complete TFC membrane exhibits excellent processability and remarkable CO2/N2 separation performance (1990 GPU with a CO2/N2 ideal selectivity of 39). This study reveals a strategy for the design and fabrication of a new TFC membrane system with unprecedented gas-separation performance.
© 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.