Interfacial nanoarchitectonics for ZIF-8 membranes with enhanced gas separation

Season S Chen; Zhen-Jie Yang; Chia-Hao Chang; Hoong-Uei Koh; Sameerah I Al-Saeedi; Kuo-Lun Tung; Kevin C-W Wu

doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.26

Interfacial nanoarchitectonics for ZIF-8 membranes with enhanced gas separation

Beilstein J Nanotechnol. 2022 Mar 22:13:313-324. doi: 10.3762/bjnano.13.26. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Season S Chen^#¹, Zhen-Jie Yang^#², Chia-Hao Chang², Hoong-Uei Koh², Sameerah I Al-Saeedi³, Kuo-Lun Tung², Kevin C-W Wu²

Affiliations

¹ School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, 999077, China.
² Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan.
³ Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University P.O.Box 84428. Riyadh 116711, Saudi Arabia.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Metal-organic framework (MOF) membranes are potentially useful in gas separation applications. Conventional methods of MOF membrane preparation require multiple steps and high-pressure conditions. In this study, a reliable one-step interfacial synthesis method under atmospheric pressure has been developed to prepare zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) membranes supported on porous α-Al₂O₃ disks. To obtain optimal ZIF-8 membranes, three reaction parameters were investigated, namely, reaction temperature, reaction time, and concentration of the organic linker (i.e., 2-methylimidazole). The growth of ZIF-8 membranes under various parameters was evaluated by field-emission scanning electron microscopy, and the optimal synthesis conditions were determined (i.e., 80 °C for 12 h in 50 mM of 2-methylimidazole). The as-synthesized ZIF-8 membranes were then applied to CO₂/N₂ gas separation, which exhibited a maximum separation factor of 5.49 and CO₂ gas permeance of 0.47 × 10^-7 mol·m^-2·s^-1·Pa^-1.

Keywords: ZIF membranes; defect-free; gas separation; interfacial synthesis; metal-organic frameworks.

Grants and funding

This work was financially supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Taiwan 108-2638-E-002-003-MY2 (Shackleton Program award). The author (S.A.) thanks Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Researchers Supporting Project Number (PNURSP2022R58), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.