NOVEL INNER SELECTIVE THIN-FILM COMPOSITE HOLLOW FIBRE MEMBRANES FOR CARBON DIOXIDE CAPTURE

Abstract

Climate change, caused by an incessant rise in anthropogenic carbon emissions, is an existential threat to mankind. The use of membranes to capture or separate carbon has attracted plenty of research attention over the years. High-performance thin-film composite (TFC) membrane, with an ultrathin defect-free outer selective layer and a strong porous substrate, has advanced membrane-based technologies with its impressive gas and vapor separation.

However, many barriers remain before outer selective TFC membranes for gas separation are deemed practical and robust enough in meeting the harsh conditions present in industrial applications. Chiefly, it is cost ineffective and labour intensive to fabricate large amount of outer selective layered TFC membranes for industrial adoption.

This work details a novel and straightforward strategy to fabricate defect-free, inner selective TFC hollow fibre membranes. The optimal result is a defect-free PDMS/PES TFC hollow fibre membrane with an ultra-thin PDMS inner selective layer of ~230 nm, developed for capturing of CO2. It achieved CO2 permeance of more than 2,100 GPU and CO2/N2 selectivity of ~10, at 1 bar pressure. This ground-breaking technology may provide useful insights to develop high-performance TFC hollow fibre membranes that are labour- and cost-effective for industry-scale CO2 capture from flue gas.