Gas permeation properties of polyurethane-TiO2 nanocomposite membranes

The effect of TiO2 nanoparticles on the gas separation properties of polyurethane has been investigated. A polyurethane based on hard segments consisting of hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) and 1,4-butanediol and soft segments consisting of poly (tetramethylene glycol) (PTMG, 2000 g/mol). The polymer was synthesized in mole ratio of 1:2:1 of diisocyanate : chain extender : polyol by bulk two-step polymerization. PU membranes were prepared by thermal phase inversion method. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction and FTIR analyses were employed in order to characterize the PU and PU-TiO2 composite membranes. FTIR and SEM results indicated the nanoscale dispersion of TiO2 particles in polymer matrix. Gas permeation properties of PU-TiO2 nanocomposite membranes with TiO2 contents of 5, 10, 20 and 30 wt.% was studied for N2 , O2 , CH4 and CO2 using constant pressure method at 10 bar and 25 ºC. The obtained results suggest a decrease in permeability of N2, O2, CH4 and CO2 gases and an increase in O2/N2, CO2/N2 and CO2/CH4 gas selectivities upon increasing the TiO2 content

کلیدواژه ها:

Gas separation ، nanoparticle ، thermal phase inversion ، SEM ، permeability