Microporous polymers, best known as polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIMs), have emerged as a new generation of membrane materials for gas separation applications, defining the most recent upper bounds for many industrially relevant gas pairs. PIMs usually exhibit very high gas permeability but moderate selectivity. We recently developed an efficient annulation polymerization (termed CANAL) to synthesize microporous ladder polymers with rigid norbornyl benzocyclobutene backbones, and discovered that the gas separation performance of these polymer membranes can be dramatically enhanced by tuning the polymer chain conformations. With optimal molecular design, we have obtained mechanically robust membranes with an unprecedented combination of remarkably high selectivity and permeability exceeding the latest upperbound for several gas separations.

High performance gas separation membranes from CANAL ladder polymerization

ACS Spring 2022

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