ABSTRACT:
The synergistic combinations of organic polymers for separation applications with inorganic substances
such as multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), have resulted in a new class of membrane material
called mixed matrix membrane (MMM) for the separation of CO 2/CH 4 gases. Mixed matrix membrane
incorporated functionalized MWNTs (f-MWNTs) were fabricated by the solution casting method, in
which the f-MWNTs were embedded into the polyimide membrane and the resulting membranes were
characterized. The effect of nominal MWNTs content between 0.5 and 1.0 wt% on the gas separation
properties was investigated. The mixed matrix membranes showed 100% enhancement for the
selectivity of CO 2/CH 4 compared to the corresponding neat polymer membrane. This new class of
mixed matrix membrane has the ability to separate gases at the molecular level and has the potential to
ultimately reduce the energy consumed in present-day separation operations. This study has shown that
addition of CNTs to polymeric membranes has improved separation properties of the membranes to a
certain extent.