Nano Express
Synthesis of silicalite-poly(furfuryl alcohol) composite membranes for oxygen enrichment from air
1 Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, 3800, Australia
2 Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Bombay, Maharashtra,400076, India
Nanoscale Research Letters 2011, 6:637 doi:10.1186/1556-276X-6-637
Published: 30 December 2011Abstract
Silicalite-poly(furfuryl alcohol) [PFA] composite membranes were prepared by solution casting of silicalite-furfuryl alcohol [FA] suspension on a porous polysulfone substrate and subsequent in situ polymerization of FA. X-ray diffraction, nitrogen sorption, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy were used to characterize silicalite nanocrystals and silicalite-PFA composite membranes. The silicalite-PFA composite membrane with 20 wt.% silicalite loading exhibits good oxygen/nitrogen selectivity (4.15) and high oxygen permeability (1,132.6 Barrers) at 50°C. Silicalite-PFA composite membranes are promising for the production of oxygen-enriched air for various applications.
