Maqsood Khuram, Jamil Asif, Ahmed Anas, Sutisna Burhannudin, Nunes Suzana, Ulbricht Mathias
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Jeddah, Jeddah 23890, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Chemical, Polymer and Composite Materials Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology (New Campus), Lahore 39021, Pakistan.
Membranes (Basel). 2023 Aug 15;13(8):734. doi: 10.3390/membranes13080734.
Blend membranes consisting of two polymer pairs improve gas separation, but compromise mechanical and thermal properties. To address this, incorporating titanium dioxide (TiO) nanoparticles has been suggested, to enhance interactions between polymer phases. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the impact of TiO as a filler on the thermal, surface mechanical, as well as gas separation properties of blend membranes. Blend polymeric membranes consisting of polyetherimide (PEI) and polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) with blend ratios of (99:1) and (98:2) were developed via a wet-phase inversion technique. In the latter, TiO was incorporated in ratios of 1 and 2 wt.% while maintaining a blend ratio of (98:2). TGA and DSC analyses were used to examine thermal properties, and nano-indentation tests were carried out to ascertain surface mechanical characteristics. On the other hand, a gas permeation set-up was used to determine gas separation performance. TGA tests showed that blend membranes containing TiO had better thermal characteristics. Indentation tests showed that TiO-containing membranes exhibited greater surface hardness compared to other membranes. The results of gas permeation experiments showed that TiO-containing membranes had better separation characteristics. PEI-PVAc blend membranes with 2 wt.% TiO as filler displayed superior separation performance for both gas pairs (CO/CH and CO/N). The compatibility between the rubbery and glassy phases of blend membranes was improved as a result of the inclusion of TiO, which further benefited their thermal, surface mechanical, and gas separation performances.
由两对聚合物组成的共混膜可改善气体分离性能，但会损害机械性能和热性能。为了解决这个问题，有人建议加入二氧化钛（TiO₂）纳米颗粒，以增强聚合物相之间的相互作用。因此，本研究的目的是研究TiO₂作为填料对共混膜的热性能、表面机械性能以及气体分离性能的影响。通过湿相转化技术制备了聚醚酰亚胺（PEI）和聚醋酸乙烯酯（PVAc）混合比例为（99:1）和（98:2）的共混聚合物膜。在后者中，TiO₂以1 wt.%和2 wt.%的比例加入，同时保持（98:2）的混合比例。采用热重分析（TGA）和差示扫描量热法（DSC）分析热性能，并进行纳米压痕试验以确定表面机械特性。另一方面，使用气体渗透装置来测定气体分离性能。TGA测试表明，含TiO₂的共混膜具有更好的热特性。压痕测试表明，与其他膜相比，含TiO₂的膜表现出更高的表面硬度。气体渗透实验结果表明，含TiO₂的膜具有更好的分离特性。以2 wt.% TiO₂作为填料的PEI-PVAc共混膜对两种气体对（CO₂/CH₄和CO₂/N₂）均表现出优异的分离性能。由于加入了TiO₂，共混膜的橡胶相和玻璃相之间的相容性得到改善，这进一步有利于它们的热性能、表面机械性能和气体分离性能。
