Expanding the Limits of Membrane-Based Gas Separation Materials

Gas separation science and technology is among the most rapidly growing areas involving membrane-based processes. Nitrogen enrichment of air, hydrogen recovery from a broad array of stream types, and removal of acid gases from natural gases are typical of the applications in this field. Great progress has been made in the discovery of guidelines optimization of polymer structures with simultaneously high permeabilities and selectivities for these important gas pairs. The development of thin-skinned asymmetric hollow fibers have also provided structures with extremely high permeation fluxes. Especially in the case of O$_{2}$/N$_{2}$ separations, the rate of improvements in new polymeric materials for gas separations appears to be slowing to a halt. Evidence will be presented, however, that the practical tradeoff between membrane permeability and selectivity has not been reached.