Polytriazole membranes with ultrathin tunable selective layer for crude oil fractionation

Science. 2022 Jun 3;376(6597):1105-1110. doi: 10.1126/science.abm7686. Epub 2022 Jun 2.

Abstract

The design of materials and their manufacture into membranes that can handle industrial conditions and separate complex nonaqueous mixtures are challenging. We report a versatile strategy to fabricate polytriazole membranes with 10-nanometer-thin selective layers containing subnanometer channels for the separation of hydrocarbons. The process involves the use of the classical nonsolvent-induced phase separation method and thermal cross-linking. The membrane selectivity can be tuned to the lower end of the typical nanofiltration range (200 to 1000 gram mole-1). The polytriazole membrane can enrich up to 80 to 95% of the hydrocarbon content with less than 10 carbon atoms (140 gram mole-1). These membranes preferentially separate paraffin over aromatic components, making them suitable for integration in hybrid distillation systems for crude oil fractionation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't