Journal of Membrane Science最新文献

{"title":"Biomineralized metal-organic framework membrane with high-crystallinity for ultrafast molecular separation","authors":"Lingya Fei ,&nbsp;Cheng Chen ,&nbsp;Jiujing Xu ,&nbsp;Boya Wang ,&nbsp;Xinyu Hu ,&nbsp;Bisheng Li ,&nbsp;Liguo Shen ,&nbsp;Hongjun Lin","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2024.123569","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2024.123569","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) possess uniform and controllable pore structure, holding significant promise for the creation of efficient molecular separation membranes. Nevertheless, the challenge lies in constructing MOF membranes with high crystallinity and effectively utilizing their ordered crystal channels for molecular separation. Drawing inspiration from natural biomineralization processes, an in-situ trace graphene oxide (GO)-mediated crystallization strategy was adopted here to manipulate the crystallization of Zr-MOF (MIP-202(Zr)) membranes. GO nanosheets with abundant oxygen-containing groups could interact with the MOF precursor, furnishing numerous growth sites for the subsequent MOF growth, thereby facilitating the crystallization process during membrane formation within only 60 min. The resultant GO/MIP-202(Zr) composite membrane, composed of highly crystalline MIP-202(Zr) and trace amount of GO nanosheets, overcame the trade-off between MOF crystallinity and membrane formation. Benefiting from the interconnected pore structure, the resulting GO/MIP-202(Zr) membrane presented ultrahigh water permeability (1698.9 L m⁻² h⁻¹ bar⁻¹), surpassing that of the pure GO membrane (258.9 L m⁻² h⁻¹ bar⁻¹) by 6.5 times, while maintaining a comparable rejection for common dye molecules. Furthermore, the membrane displayed satisfied recyclability and structural stability. This study provides important perspectives for the fabrication of advanced membranes derived from MOFs aimed at enhancing molecular separation processes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"717 ","pages":"Article 123569"},"PeriodicalIF":8.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143155474","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Synthesis of fluorinated ether free aromatic backbone copolymers containing trifluoromethyl and dimethylamino groups for CO2 separation: Investigation of pure and mixed gas performance under dry and humid conditions","authors":"Athina Nikolopoulou ,&nbsp;Dionysios Vroulias ,&nbsp;Theophilos Ioannides ,&nbsp;Valadoula Deimede","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2024.123571","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2024.123571","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;div&gt;&lt;div&gt;A novel series of linear, high molecular weight aromatic copolymers containing trifluoromethyl and dimethylamino groups was synthesized via facile super-acid catalyzed polyhydroxyalkylation and investigated as CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; gas separation membrane materials. The molar ratio of the two ketone comonomers used in copolymerization, trifluoroacetophenone (TFAp) and N,N-dimethylamino trifluoroacetophenone (dMATFAp), was systematically varied to produce five copolymers with different dMATFAp contents ranging from 12 to 73 %. The influence of dMATFAp content on physicochemical and mechanical properties as well as pure gas and water vapor separation performance was studied. All synthesized copolymers displayed excellent film forming ability, high thermal stability and high T&lt;sub&gt;g&lt;/sub&gt; values (T&lt;sub&gt;gs&lt;/sub&gt; &gt; 380 °C). Pure gas permeability measurements revealed that the increase of dMATFAp molar content from 12 % to 34 % resulted in improved gas permeability, while, on the contrary, further increase of dMATFAp content from 34 to 73 % led to substantial gas permeability decrease ascribed to FFV decrease. In particular, among copolymers, the one with dMATFAp content of 34 % presented the highest CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; permeability value of 290 Barrer due to its highest CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; diffusion and CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; solubility coefficients associated with its higher FFV value. The CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;/CH&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt; performance of synthesized copolymers fell very close to 2008 upper bound limit and exceeded most of the super-acid catalyzed copolymer membranes reported in the literature and commercial membranes. CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;/CH&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt; and CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;/N&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; selectivity values for the different synthesized copolymers were in the range of 29.9–40 and 22.7–44, respectively. The study of the effect of dMΑTFA on water permeability unveiled that the membrane with the highest dMΑTFAp molar content (73 %) showed the highest water permeability value (23,100 Barrer) as well. This was attributed to the increased concentration of N-methyl substituent of dMΑTFAp which can interact with water molecules thereby increasing solubility. Under process gas stream conditions using a mixture of 3 % H&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;O-48.5 % CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;-48.5 % CH&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt;, both CH&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt; and CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; permeability were significantly reduced (by 35 % and 47 %, respectively) due to the preferential sorption of water vapor over other gases present in the mixture, highlighting the negative effect of water vapor on gas permeability. Accordingly, the CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;/CH&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt; separation factor was slightly increased from 23.8 to 29. Finally, stability test of the copolymer (BP-TFAp)&lt;sub&gt;66&lt;/sub&gt;-(BP-dMATFAp)&lt;sub&gt;34&lt;/sub&gt; at 40 °C under humid mixed gas conditions showed that CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; and CH&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt; permeability remained unchanged for one month after an initial condition stabilization that is required implying that these copolymer structures are promising materials","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"717 ","pages":"Article 123571"},"PeriodicalIF":8.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143155476","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Crystalline nuclei-templated PVDF/PAN_PVDF ultrafiltration membranes prepared via a dual-casting technique: High water permeation with improved anti-fouling and flux recovery","authors":"Çağla Gül Güldiken ,&nbsp;Hao Peng ,&nbsp;Kang Li","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2024.123580","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2024.123580","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The combined crystallization and diffusion (CCD) method has been introduced in recent years to produce polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and other polymeric ultrafiltration (UF) membranes with high permeation/separation performance. However, the CCD PVDF membranes can easily be fouled by protein adsorption, which deteriorates their permeance over time. This study addresses this issue by incorporating polyacrylonitrile (PAN) into PVDF in the separation layer at different percentages via a dual-casting technique in the CCD method to prevent irreversible fouling. The anisotropic CCD membrane morphology with interconnected microchannels was preserved after PAN was blended in the separation layer without phase separation or delamination, as determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Antifouling studies revealed that even after two fouling cycles, the 10 % PAN-doped dual-cast PVDF membrane presented very high pure water permeance (PWP) at 640 L per square meter membrane area per hour (LMH) under 1 bar pressure difference across the membrane (LMH bar⁻¹), that is over 4 times greater than the initial water permeance of well-known commercial PVDF membranes from industry leaders (∼150 LMH bar⁻¹) at the same mean flow pore size range (30–35 nm). This research provides an efficient and facile route for fabricating high-performance ultrafiltration membranes with superior antifouling and flux recovery characteristics for long-term operation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"717 ","pages":"Article 123580"},"PeriodicalIF":8.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143155911","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Anion-exchange membrane adsorbers with silane-modulated biomimetic amination surface for efficient DNA separation","authors":"Qi Zhao,&nbsp;Xiaoyue Liang,&nbsp;Xueyu Zhang,&nbsp;Chunju He","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2024.123563","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2024.123563","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ion exchange membrane adsorbers, an alternative to overcome the bottleneck of present deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) solid-phase extraction material, still suffer from scarce binding capacity and uncontrollable recovery efficiency. Herein, inspired by mussel adhesion combined with in-situ coupling technique, a silane-modulated biomimetic amination strategy is proposed to construct an anion-exchange membrane adsorber for efficient DNA separation. The coupling of polyethyleneimine to the biomimetic interlayer formed by the co-coating of pyrogallol and 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane onto polyethersulfone membranes provides high coverage of DNA-binding ligands for the resulting membrane adsorber. Furthermore, its surface charge properties are tailored by the tunable content of epoxy groups in the biomimetic interlayer, resulting in the pH-responsive reversible DNA binding capacity. Consequently, the resulting membrane adsorber exhibits unprecedented DNA adsorption capacity (396.2 mg g⁻¹), which is renewable and requires no external binding agent. More importantly, this membrane adsorber in the form of spin columns achieves outstanding DNA recovery efficiency up to 88 %, which is 32 % improvement over commercial silica matrices. This research provides a new perspective on the design of novel ion exchange membrane adsorbers and holds promise for the low-loss, high-efficiency downstream separation and purification processes of biomacromolecules.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"717 ","pages":"Article 123563"},"PeriodicalIF":8.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143155053","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Weaken aqueous monomers to thicken the polyamide layer of nanofiltration membranes with a high carboxyl density","authors":"Zhiyuan Hu ,&nbsp;Yawei Gao ,&nbsp;Gangfu Song ,&nbsp;Jue Wang ,&nbsp;Xiao-mao Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2024.123626","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2024.123626","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>For thickening the polyamide (PA) active layer, the weakened aqueous monomer, piperazine-2-carboxylic acid (PIP–COOH), was selected to explore a new way of fabricating the thick and negative nanofiltration (NF) membranes via classic interfacial polymerization (IP). The presence of electron-withdrawing carboxyl on the PIP-COOH greatly reduced the reactivity to totally reserve ample time and space, especially at the early stage of the IP and in the incipient polymeric structure, respectively, for PIP-COOH continuously diffusing forward to extend the reaction zone. Furthermore, the extra introduction of carboxyl, belonging to PIP-COOH, significantly increased the negative charge density of the resultant membranes. The optimal membrane exhibited the high rejection (∼92.4 %) of Na₂SO₄ and the effective removal of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) (&gt;80.0 %) while maintaining moderate water permeance of 5.2 L m⁻² h⁻¹ bar⁻¹ and excellent durability. It was validated repeatedly that the sufficient supply of aqueous PIP-COOH ensured the thickness of active layer increased at least two-fold, most up to ∼200 nm.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"717 ","pages":"Article 123626"},"PeriodicalIF":8.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143156307","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Polyethylene based nanofiltration membranes with internally confined polyamide separating layers from cross substrate interface polymerization","authors":"Juexin Wang ,&nbsp;Yangxiang Huang ,&nbsp;Lixin Xue ,&nbsp;Xinqi Gu ,&nbsp;Jing He ,&nbsp;Yeqiang Lu ,&nbsp;Congjie Gao","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2024.123628","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2024.123628","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cross substrate interface polymerization (CSIP) processes were developed to construct polyethylene (PE) based thin film composite nanofiltration (NF) membranes with internally confined polyamide (i-PA) separating layers protected by external covering PE filaments, possessing rougher top surfaces, more negative surface zeta potential, reduced and narrowly distributed pore sizes. Cationic surfactant CTAB reacted with TMC and formed hydrophilic but insoluble BTC(CTA)_n/CTAB coating inside the PE substrate to facilitate water permeation. The contact time of monomer solutions on PE substrates affect the membrane performance by controlling the quality of i-PA layers and amount of BTC(CTA)_n/CTAB coating underneath. PE(O/W) NF membranes from CSIP processes with i-PA layers had rougher surface, lower zeta potential, smaller average radius μ_p (0.374 nm) and lower geometric deviation (1.43), leading to higher Na₂SO₄ rejection (96.4 %) and water permeance (20.36 L m⁻²·h⁻¹·bar⁻¹), maintaining excellent anti-wearing, flux recovering and operating stability.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"717 ","pages":"Article 123628"},"PeriodicalIF":8.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143156316","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Stabilization of electroconvective vortices by membrane corrugation: Thresholds, transitions, and impacts on ion transport","authors":"R. Dunkel ,&nbsp;J. Guettler ,&nbsp;M. Wessling","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2024.123555","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2024.123555","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this work, the impact of geometrical membrane corrugations on ion transport and concentration polarization-induced electroconvection was investigated. A high-precision micro-particle-tracking velocimetry setup enables to visualize the temporal evolution of electroconvective vortices on different membrane surface geometries while simultaneously evaluating ion transport through the monitoring of current–voltage curves. A significant change in the electro-hydrodynamic response of a laboratory-scale electrodialysis cell was observed at overlimiting current densities for different corrugation sizes on the membrane. Experiments reveal that there is a relationship between the size of the corrugation features, the size of electroconvective vortices, and their effect on ion transport. We identified for the first time the coexistence of small and large electroconvective vortices, as foreseen by recent simulations, each moving at unique velocities. Additionally, it was found that the usually chaotic electroconvective vortices are stabilized by the electroosmotic forces induced by the membrane corrugation. More extensive membrane features led to more stable vortices, aligning their counter-rotation with the membrane’s geometry. A threshold for stable and unstable vortices was determined, and a characterization of transitioning to a chaotic and destabilized state was derived. Finally, the contribution of stable vortices to ion transport was evaluated, finding that stable, larger vortices lead to enhanced transport. These findings contribute to the proposal of optimizing membrane designs for electrodialysis application as a possible solution to overcome ion transport limitations at overlimiting current densities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"717 ","pages":"Article 123555"},"PeriodicalIF":8.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143155051","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Shearing metal-organic framework lattice defects create low-resistance reservoir channels for high-performance aqueous organic flow battery","authors":"Hongyan Cao ,&nbsp;Yu Xia ,&nbsp;Junjie Wang ,&nbsp;Hengyu Ji ,&nbsp;Haiyang Hong ,&nbsp;Kenan Xu ,&nbsp;Kang Huang ,&nbsp;Gongping Liu ,&nbsp;Zhi Xu","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2024.123607","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2024.123607","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The efficiency of electrochemical storage devices, such as flow batteries, depends on the rapid and selective ion-transport capability of ion-conducting membranes. However, designing membranes with high selectivity and low resistance remains challenging. In this study, we propose a strategy that utilizes graded lattice differences to selectively shear the lattice-defective inner core form a hollow MIL-101 (HMIL-101) with ultralow-resistance reservoir transport channels and lattice-perfect ion-sieving outer shell. An approximately 1/8th-volume-ratio cavity can reduce proton transfer resistance by 86 %, and the HMIL-101 proton conductivity improves by roughly an order of magnitude (2.9 × 10⁻³ vs. 4.0 × 10⁻⁴ S/cm). Further membrane separation tests show precise and rapid selective ion transfer. The proton conductivity increased by 100 %, and the ion conductivity-selectivity increased 5.2 times, reaching 2.6 × 10⁷ S cm/min³. Additionally, a 7 % enhancement in voltage efficiency at a high current density (120 mA/cm²) in aqueous organic redox flow batteries further underscores the superiority of this high-selectivity and low-resistance metal-organic framework ion-conducting membrane. Our strategy offers a new direction for designing high-performance ion transport channels within membranes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"717 ","pages":"Article 123607"},"PeriodicalIF":8.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143155746","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Customizing membrane microstructures for targeted removal of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances for healthy drinking water","authors":"Xiaozhen Lu ,&nbsp;Lin Wang ,&nbsp;Xuewu Zhu ,&nbsp;Jiashuai Wei ,&nbsp;Daoji Wu ,&nbsp;Liping Qiu ,&nbsp;Daliang Xu ,&nbsp;Heng Liang ,&nbsp;Zhe Yang ,&nbsp;Bin Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2024.123627","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2024.123627","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Efficient removal the hazardous per - and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is imperative for healthy drinking water. The scalable and cost-effective nanofiltration (NF) process is considered the golden option for removing PFAS, but the inherent membrane structural properties usually induce unsatisfactory removals as well as low permeance. To overcome this challenge, we used the polar solvent ethanol (ETOH) as a co-solvent for the interfacial polymerization (IP) process to achieve precise modulation of the microstructural properties of NF membranes. The presence of ETOH enriched the piperazine (PIP) monomers on the organic side of the IP reaction zone, contributing to enhanced local reaction heat release and the formation of nanobubbles. Thus, a denser and less intruded substrate with a more homogeneous distribution of the nanobubble structure of the polyamide layer was achieved. Advantageously to the structural features, the preferred ETOH-4 NF membranes exhibited excellent permeability (17.54 LMH/bar) and selectivity (1821.45 bar^-1 for water/Na₂SO₄ and 180.67 bar^-1 for NaCl/Na₂SO₄). The ETOH-4 membrane demonstrates exceptional efficacy in the removal of 22 PFAS compounds, achieving removal rates ranging from 93.42 % to 99.99 %. Furthermore, it exhibits remarkable selectivity between water and PFAS substances. An in-depth analysis showed that the enhanced size exclusions were the main reason for the efficient removal of PFAS. This work provides a new route for customizing the microstructures of high-performance NF membranes for efficient PFAS removals.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"717 ","pages":"Article 123627"},"PeriodicalIF":8.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143156306","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Improving blowout pressure in supported ionic liquid membranes for light paraffin fractionation","authors":"Justin J. Rosenthal,&nbsp;Mariam Y. Balogun,&nbsp;Matthew N. Davenport,&nbsp;Louise Marie C. Cañada,&nbsp;Joan F. Brennecke,&nbsp;Benny D. Freeman","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2024.123624","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2024.123624","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Gas from shale reservoirs provides the U.S. with relatively clean-burning fuel and important precursors for petrochemicals. However, due to the similar thermophysical properties between shale gas components, energy-intensive cryogenic distillation is used to separate the heavier hydrocarbons from methane. Compared to distillation, membrane-based technology could yield an order of magnitude improvement in energy efficiency. Nevertheless, this requires membranes capable of operating at high transmembrane pressures. Here, we report supported ionic liquid membranes (SILMs) that operate within industrially relevant operating pressures (i.e., 7–30 bar) without experiencing blowout—a loss of ionic liquid (IL) and subsequent membrane defects at elevated transmembrane pressures. By considering the effect of the pore size distribution on capillary pressure, described by the Young-Laplace equation, we developed polyethersulfone-based SILMs that operate above 16 bar. To our knowledge, this is the highest reported blowout pressure for a SILM using a commercial membrane support. Pure-gas permeation experiments indicate promising C₃H₈/CH₄ permselectivity values as high as 4 for SILMs with larger pores (30–100 nm). Yet, this reverse-selectivity is not observed for SILMs with smaller pores (4 nm), partly due to their lower surface porosity, which results in significantly higher mass transfer resistance from the polymeric support and, consequently, reduced permselectivity. Additionally, trends in glass transition temperature and melting point of the imbued ILs, as well as increased CO₂/N₂ and CO₂/CH₄ permselectivity suggest that nanoconfinement effects may also play a significant role in the separation performance of these membranes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"717 ","pages":"Article 123624"},"PeriodicalIF":8.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143156311","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}