Surface of CuO Nanoparticles Modified by -Benzoquinone for N-Selective Membrane.

In this study, CuO nanoparticles and -benzoquinone (-BQ) were added to a polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) matrix to increase N/CO selectivity. The added -BQ allowed CuO to be distributed in a uniform size in the PVP/CuO composite membrane and the matrix to be flexible by forming the interaction with PVP. The surface modification of CuO by -BQ and the well-dispersed size affected the increase in the separation performance. The PVP/CuO/-BQ composite membranes showed an N/CO selectivity of about 23.1 with N permeance of about 13.3 GPU, while the separation performance of PVP was not observed. The enhanced separation performance is attributable to the surface of CuO nanoparticles modified by -BQ inducing CO molecules to be relatively slowly transported by the adsorption properties in the polymer matrix. The chemical properties and coordinative interaction for PVP/CuO/-BQ composite membrane were measured by FT-IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, UV-vis, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy.