ZIF‐8 Incorporated in an Optimized Pebax®1657/PES Membrane for Pure and Mixed CO₂/CH₄ Gas Separation

Abstract

Synthesized ZIF‐8 (zeolitic imidazolate framework‐8) nanoparticles were embedded in Pebax®1657/polyethersulfone (PES) to construct a mixed‐matrix membrane. The membrane was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and tensile tests. The separation performance of CO₂ from CH₄ and N₂ was also measured at feed pressures of 4, 8, and 12 bar at room temperature. The results indicated that adding nanoparticles and glassy polymer into the Pebax®1657 matrix led to improved thermal and mechanical stabilities of the membrane and an 88 % increase in CO₂ permeance (at 30 wt % ZIF‐8 in Pebax®1657/PES‐10 %). The Pebax®1657/PES/ZIF‐8 membrane exceeded Robeson's trade‐off upper bound.