Development of Polysulfone/Activated Carbon Nanofibers Mixed Matrix Membrane for CO2/CH4 Separation

Abstract

This study was performed primarily to investigate the effect of activated carbon nanofiber (ACNF) on carbon dioxide and methane separation performance of mixed matrix membrane (MMM). In this study, polysulfone (PSf)/ACNF mixed matrix membranes was fabricated using dry/wet inversion technique. The effect of PSf concentration and ACNF loading on the performance of mixed matrix membrane in terms of permeability and selectivity of CO2/CH4 gas separation was observed. The fabricated flat sheet mixed matrix membranes were characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis. From the SEM observations, it shows that sponge like structures images were observed upon the addition of ACNFs in the PSf/ACNF membranes was slowly decreased due to increasing weight percentage of ACNF. FT-IR result indicating the presence of carboxyl group in MMM at wavelength 1750 cm-1. Meanwhile, the MMMs were further tested to pure permeation test using pure CO2 and CH4 gas, the CO2 permeance improved and the selectivity of CO2/CH4 increased after the addition of ACNFs.