Ultrathin graphene oxide-based hollow fiber membranes with brush-like CO<sub>2</sub>-philic agent for highly efficient CO<sub>2</sub> capture.

Zhou, Fanglei; Tien, Huynh Ngoc; Xu, Weiwei L; Chen, Jung-Tsai; Liu, Qiuli; Hicks, Ethan; Fathizadeh, Mahdi; Li, Shiguang et al. · Nat Commun · 2017

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Among the current CO<sub>2</sub> capture technologies, membrane gas separation has many inherent advantages over other conventional techniques. However, fabricating gas separation membranes with both high CO<sub>2</sub> permeance and high CO<sub>2</sub>/N<sub>2</sub> selectivity, especially under wet conditions, is a challenge. In this study, sub-20-nm thick, layered graphene oxide (GO)-based hollow fiber membranes with grafted, brush-like CO<sub>2</sub>-philic agent alternating between GO layers are prepared by a facile coating process for highly efficient CO<sub>2</sub>/N<sub>2</sub> separation under wet conditions. Piperazine, as an effective CO<sub>2</sub>-philic agent, is introduced as a carrier-brush into the GO nanochannels with chemical bonding. The membrane exhibits excellent separation performance under simulated flue gas conditions with CO<sub>2</sub> permeance of 1,020 GPU and CO<sub>2</sub>/N<sub>2</sub> selectivity as high as 680, demonstrating its potential for CO<sub>2</sub> capture from flue gas. We expect this GO-based membrane structure combined with the facile coating process to facilitate the development of ultrathin GO-based membranes for CO<sub>2</sub> capture.