Gas separation properties of crosslinked and non-crosslinked carboxymethylcellulose (CMC)membranes

In this study, crosslinked and non-crosslinked carboxymethylcellulose (cmc)membranes were prepared with dierent concentrations of polymer. then, the permeabilityof pure co2, n2, and ch4 was measured through these membranes in dry state toinvestigate the inuence of polymer concentration and applied feed pressure on permeabilityand permselectivity. the permeability of co2 through membranes was higher than theother gases. a comparison of permeabilities revealed that the permeability of n2, co2,and ch4 increased on an average of 33, 40 and 20 percent, respectivly, by increasing thefeed pressure from 6 to 10 bar. increasing cmc concentration from 1.2 to 3.0 wt%, thepermeability of n2, co2, and ch4 decreased on an average of 25, 12 and 19 percent,respectivly. also, the co2/ch4 and co2/n2 permselectivities increased 9 and 18 percent,respectivly, with an increment in cmc concentration from 1.2 to 3 wt%. the crosslinkedcmc membranes with the same polymer concentrations were also prepared to investigatethe eects of crosslinking reaction on permeability and permselectivity. the atr-ftir testwas applied, and the peak at about 1108 cm??1 conrmed the presence of corsslinker groups.the comparision of gas permeation test results for crosslinked and non-crosslinked cmcmembranes showed that the gas permeability decreased and its permselectivity increaseddue to crosslinking reaction. according to robeson's plots, the prepared cmc membraneswould have potential for commercialization.