PIM-PI-1 and Poly(ethylene glycol)/Poly(propylene glycol)-Based Mechanically Robust Copolyimide Membranes with High CO-Selectivity and an Anti-aging Property: A Joint Experimental-Computational Exploration.

Polymer membranes with excellent thermomechanical properties and good gas separation performance are desirable for efficient CO separation. A series of copolyimide membranes are prepared for the first time using PIM-PI-1, a hard segment with high CO permeability, and poly(ethylene glycol)/poly(propylene glycol) (PEG/PPG), a soft segment with high CO selectivity. Two different unit polymers are combined to compensate the limitations of each polymer (e.g., the fast aging and moderate selectivity of PIM-PI-1 and the poor mechanical properties and lower permeability of PEG/PPG). The corresponding PIM-(durene-PEG/PPG) membranes exhibit an excellent combination of mechanical properties and gas separation performance compared to the typical PI-PEG-based copolymer membrane. The improved mechanical property is attributed to the unique chain threading and the reinforcement between the spiro unit of PIM and the flexible PEG/PPG at the molecular level, which has not previously been exploited for membranes. The PIM-(durene-PEG/PPG) membranes show a high CO permeability of 350-669 Barrer and a high CO/N selectivity of 33.5-40.3. The experimental results are further evaluated with theoretical results obtained from molecular simulation studies, and a very good agreement between the experimental results and simulation results is found. Moreover, the PIM-(durene-PEG/PPG) copolymer membranes display excellent anti-aging performance for up to 1 year.