Enhancing Carbon Capture Efficacy of Titania-Doped Polyethersulfone Membranes
摘要
Carbon dioxide can be efficiently captured from post-combustion flue gases via membrane technology to mitigate global warming issues. Efficient carbon capture composite membranes were concocted by impregnating titania nanoparticles into polyethersulfone matrix by opting phase inversion and solution casting methods. Morphological, mechanical, structural and thermal characteristics of prepared membranes were thoroughly analyzed via various characterization techniques. Carbon capture performance of synthesized membranes reported in terms of CO2 permeance and CO2/N2 permselectivity was enhanced by titania impregnation. In contrast to pristine polyethersulfone membrane, doping of titania nanoparticles in varying loadings significantly enhanced carbon separation efficacy of composite membranes. Optimum titania loading of 5% in pristine polymer resulted in a significant enhancement of 62% in CO2 permeability and 77% in CO2/N2 selectivity, indicating substantial improvement in gas separation performance of synthesized membranes. Experimentally obtained permeation results of different gases through prepared mixed-matrix membranes containing varied amounts of titania nanofiller were found satisfactory when compared to ideal scenario by applying different theoretical models based on two- and three-phase morphological systems.