Controlling Microstructure-Transport Interplay in Poly(ether- block-amide) Multiblock Copolymer Gas Separation Membranes

Sinan Feng; Yokajaksusri Nutthon; Hiroyasu Masunaga; Sono Sasaki; Roman Selyanchyn; Shigenori Fujikawa; Shinichi Murata; Atsushi Takahara

doi:10.1021/acs.langmuir.3c02516

Controlling Microstructure-Transport Interplay in Poly(ether- block-amide) Multiblock Copolymer Gas Separation Membranes

Langmuir. 2023 Dec 12;39(49):17879-17888. doi: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.3c02516. Epub 2023 Nov 28.

Authors

Sinan Feng¹, Yokajaksusri Nutthon¹, Hiroyasu Masunaga², Sono Sasaki^{3

4}, Roman Selyanchyn^{1

5

6}, Shigenori Fujikawa^{1

6}, Shinichi Murata¹, Atsushi Takahara¹

Affiliations

¹ Research Center for Negative Emissions Technologies, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.
² Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5198, Japan.
³ Graduate School of Science and Technology and Faculty of Fiber Science and Engineering, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan.
⁴ RIKEN SPring-8 Center, 1-1-1, Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan.
⁵ Platform for Inter-/Transdisciplinary Energy Research, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.
⁶ International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.

PMID: 38016082
DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.3c02516

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the effect of morphology on the gas-transport properties of a poly(ether-block-amide) (PEBA) multiblock copolymer. We annealed the copolymer samples and varied the annealing temperature to evaluate the influence of changes in the microstructure on the gas transport properties of PEBA. In addition, we used time-resolved attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to evaluate the diffusion coefficient of CO₂ in PEBA based on the Fickian model. The effect of the annealing temperature on the microphase-separated structure of the multiblock copolymer is discussed in detail. Furthermore, the gas diffusivity was significantly affected by the purity of the soft domains. The annealed sample demonstrated a 38% increase in CO₂ permeability while maintaining a high CO₂/N₂ permselectivity of approximately 53. The findings of this study provide valuable insight into the design and optimization of PEBA membranes for gas separation applications.