Sub-micro porous thin polymer membranes for discriminating H2 and CO2

Xueru Yan; Tianqi Song; Min Li; Zhi Wang; Xinlei Liu

doi:10.1038/s41467-024-45007-6

Sub-micro porous thin polymer membranes for discriminating H₂ and CO₂

Nat Commun. 2024 Jan 20;15(1):628. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-45007-6.

Authors

Xueru Yan^{1

2}, Tianqi Song³, Min Li^{1

2}, Zhi Wang^{1

2}, Xinlei Liu^{4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Chemical Engineering Research Center, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, 300072, Tianjin, China.
² Tianjin Key Laboratory of Membrane Science and Desalination Technology, Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, Tianjin University, 300072, Tianjin, China.
³ School of Computer Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, 710049, Xi'an, China.
⁴ Chemical Engineering Research Center, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, 300072, Tianjin, China. xinlei_liu1@tju.edu.cn.
⁵ Tianjin Key Laboratory of Membrane Science and Desalination Technology, Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, Tianjin University, 300072, Tianjin, China. xinlei_liu1@tju.edu.cn.

Abstract

Polymeric membranes with high permeance and remarkable selectivity for simultaneous H₂ purification and CO₂ capture under industry-relevant conditions are absent. Herein, sub-micro pores with precise molecular sieving capability are created in ultra-thin (13-30 nm) polymer membranes via controllable transformation of amine-linked polymer (ALP) films into benzimidazole-and-amine-linked polymer (BIALP) layers. The BIALP membranes exhibit stable unprecedented H₂/CO₂ selectivity of 120 with a H₂ permeance of 315 GPU. Furthermore, high pressure (up to 11 bar) and thermal (up to 300 °C) resistance is delivered. This work provides a concept on designing porous polymeric membranes for precise molecular discrimination.

Abstract

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