Effect of Silica Nanoparticles on Syngas (H2/Co/Co2) Permeability in Polyetherimide Membrane

As an alternative fuel to fossil fuels, hydrogen has the highest energy density content of all current fuels# membrane separation is known as one of the effective technologies in hydrogen separation and purification# pei-silica nanocomposite membranes were synthesized and the permeation of h2, co and co2 as the gases produced by the synthesis gas were studied# by embedding a small percentage (5%) of hydrophobic silica in pei membrane, the permeability of h2, co2 and co became 1#5, 1#6 and 1#9 times higher than the permeability of the pure membrane, respectively# furthermore, at high loads of nanoparticles (20 wt%), h2 permeability reached the level of pure membrane permeability, while co permeability was significantly reduced# thus, the selectivity of h2/co in this membrane reached 66, which is 3#4 times higher than the selectivity of the pure membrane#