The demand for natural gas is growing globally. Both traditional natural gas and shale gas require treatment to remove acidic impurities and incombustible components, such as CO2. Ionic liquids (ILs) have been demonstrated to be highly selective and energy-efficient absorbents for CO2 separation in recent years. However, dense membranes with covalently linked IL functionalities tend to be low in permeability. Silicone membranes can be very permeable, but lack selectivity. It is hypothesized that by combing the two elements, both permeability and selectivity can be improved. Two silicon-modified ILs were incorporated into silicone membranes using a sol-gel process. The performance of the membranes was optimized by varying their chemical composition. When used for CO2/CH4 Separation, a selectivity of 13.0 and a permeability of 107 Barrers were obtained.

Marrying the polar opposites: Silicone membranes containing covalently linked ionic liquids for CO2/CH4 separation

254th National Meeting (2017)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.