Thickness effect on the morphology and permeability of Co2/N2 gases in asymmetric polyetherimide membrane

The effect of membrane thickness on the morphology and performance of polyetherimide (pei) flat sheet membranes for gas separation has been investigated. an asymmetric pei flat sheet membrane was fabricated using phase inversion with n-methyl- 2-pyrrolidone (nmp) and water-isopropanol as solvent and coagulant,respectively. scanning electron microscopy (sem) was used to analyse the morphology of the prepared membrane. the results showed that the membrane with high casting thickness of 300 μm yielded a lower permeability compared to the fabricated membrane with lower casting thickness at 1 bar and 25°c for pure carbon dioxide (co2) and nitrogen (n2) as test gas. it was found that the permeability strongly depended on the cast solution thickness. it was also found out that the macrovoid became open and appeared larger as the casting thickness increased. © penerbit universiti sains malaysia,2017.