Large-Area Ultrathin Mixed Matrix Membranes Incorporating Small Rigid MOFs for Gas Separation

作者：Zhenjie Gu, Xu Zhang, Ran Liang, Fei Wang, Daqiang Wang, Aibing Chen, Zhihua Qiao · 发表于：ACS Applied Polymer Materials · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1021/acsapm.5c02357 · 被引用次数：5 · 研究领域：Membrane Separation and Gas Transport、Gas Sensing Nanomaterials and Sensors、Graphene research and applications

The integration of metal–organic frameworks into polymer matrices within mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) presents a promising strategy for fabricating high-performance gas separation membranes. However, nanoparticle aggregation during the scale-up process reduces membrane permselectivity, limiting practical applications. This study presents a facile, solvent-induced vacuum sintering strategy for synthesizing small rigid ZIF-8 (SRZ) enriched with Zn 2+ active sites. SRZ exhibited superior hydrophilicity and membrane-forming capability, enabling its homogeneous dispersion within polyvinylamine (PVAm) for the fabrication of large-area PVAm/SRZ/modified poly(ether sulfone) (MPSf) MMMs. These MMMs were uniform, dense, and defect-free, with an effective membrane area of up to 3100 cm 2 and ultrathin selective layers of approximately 200 nm. Benefiting from abundant Zn 2+ active sites and a rigid framework structure, the developed MMMs demonstrated high CH 4 permeance (1933 GPU) and excellent CH 4 /N 2 selectivity (3.5). To further demonstrate their potential, two PVAm/SRZ/MPSf MMMs were employed to construct spiral-wound membrane modules with a packing area of 6200 cm 2 . The SRZ-based membrane modules exhibited satisfactory CH 4 permeance (1261 GPU) while maintaining acceptable CH 4 /N 2 selectivity (3.35). This study presents a feasible approach to facilitate industrial applications of gas separation membranes.