فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

CO2 separation is one of the main challenges of today's world due to the growth of industries. Membrane separation method is a promising method for CO2 separation, and poly(ether-block-amide) (Pebax) polymer membrane is one of the industrial membranes in this regard. However, this membrane is limited by the permeability-selectivity trade-off, which restricts its wider industrial application. This study aimed to address this limitation by incorporating ethylene glycol monophenyl ether (EGME) as filler in the Pebax membrane. The investigation focused on the impact of EGME on the chemical structure, morphology, physical and thermal properties, as well as the separation characteristics of the polymer. The results showed that by adding EGME, the prepared membrane became more brittle, with increased stiffness, and the tensile strength and Young's modulus of the Pebax/EGME membrane increased by 53 and 99.5 percent, respectively, compared to the pure membrane. Furthermore, the permeability of CO2 and the CO2/N2 selectivity improved by 247% and 49%, respectively, attributed to the interactions between EGME and CO2 molecules, including Lewis acid-base, dipole-quadrupole, and π-quadrupole interactions. This performance improvement allowed the Pebax/EGME membrane to surpass the Robeson upper bound, overcoming the permeability-selectivity trade-off, indicating the key role of EGME in improving the separation performance of Pebax. Moreover, The separation efficiency of the developed membranes was on par with, and in many cases superior to, the majority of membranes created by other researchers.