• Membrane Journal
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.222-232
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• 2023

In this study, a hollow fiber support membrane was prepared by a non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) method using a polysulfone (PSf). The prepared hollow fiber support membrane was coated with PDMS and Pebax to prepare a hollow fiber composite membrane. The prepared composite membrane was measured for permeance and selectivity for pure CO₂, H₂, O₂ and N₂. Gas separation performance of the module having the highest selectivity (CO₂/H₂) among the prepared composite membrane modules was measured according to the change in stage cut using simulated gas. The composition of the simulated gas used at this time was 70% CO₂ and 30% H₂. In the 1 stage experiment, it was possible to obtain values of about 60% of H₂ concentration and 12% of H₂ recovery. In order to overcome the low H₂ concentration and recovery, 2 stage serial test was performed, and through this, it was possible to achieve 70% H₂ concentration and 70% recovery. Through this, it was possible to derive a separation process configuration for CO₂/H₂ separation.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.94-109
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• 2023

1,3-Dioxolane is an exciting material that has attracted widespread interest in the chemical, paint, and pharmaceutical industries as a solvent, electrolyte, and reagent because 1,3-dioxolane is not toxic, carcinogenic, explosive, auto-flammable, and multifunctional, and due to their excellent miscibility in most organic and aqueous solvent conditions. Recently, this material has received increasing attention as a CO₂-selective polymer precursor to separating CO₂ from flue gas and natural gas mixtures. Poly(1,3-dioxolane) (PDXL) possesses higher ether oxygen content than polyethylene oxide (PEO), which demonstrates superior membrane CO₂/N₂ separation properties owing to their polar ether oxygen groups exhibiting strong affinity toward CO₂. Thus, PDXL-based membranes displayed an outstanding CO₂ solubility selectivity over non-polar (N₂, H₂, and CH₄) gases. However, the polar groups of PDXL, like PEO, promote chain packing efficiency and cause polymer crystallization, thereby reducing its gas permeability, which should be improved. In this short review, we discuss the recent advancement and limitations of PDXL membranes in gas separation applications. To conclude, we provide future perspectives for inhibiting the limits of 1,3-dioxolane-based polymers in the CO₂ separation process.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.269-275
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• 2020

In this study, CO₂ separation experiment was performed on a CH₄/CO₂ mixed gas using a ceramic hollow fiber membrane contactor (HFMC). In order to fabricate high-performance HFMC, experiments were conducted to manufacture high-permeability hollow fiber membranes, and the prepared hollow fiber membranes were evaluated through N₂ gas permeation experiments. HFMC for CH₄/CO₂ mixed gas separation was manufactured using the manufactured high-permeability hollow fiber membrane. In the experiment, mixed gas of CH₄/CO₂ (34.5% CO₂, CH₄ balance) and monoetanolamine (MEA) was used, and the effect of CO₂ removal efficiency on the flow rate of the absorbent was evaluated. The CO₂ removal efficiency increased as the liquid flow rate increased, and the CO₂ absorption flux also increased with the liquid flow rate.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.149-157
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• 2023

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have shown promise in various applications, including molecular separation, dye separation, gas separation, filtration, and desalination. Integrating COFs into membranes enhances permeability, selectivity, and stability, improving separation processes. Combining COFs with single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) creates nanocomposite membranes with high permeability and stability, ideal for dye separation. Incorporating COFs into polyamide (PA) membranes improves permeability and selectivity through a synthetic interfacial strategy. Three-dimensional COF fillers in mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) enhance CO₂/CH₄ separation, making them suitable for biogas upgrading. All-nanoporous composite (ANC) membranes, which combine COFs and metal-organic framework (MOF) membranes, overcome permeance-selectivity trade-offs, significantly improving gas permeance. Computational simulations using hypothetical COFs (hypoCOFs) demonstrate superior CO₂ selectivity and working capacity relevant for CO₂ separation and H₂ purification. COFs integrated into thin-film composite (TFC) and polysulfonamide (PSA) membranes enhance rejection performance for organic contaminants, salt contaminants, and heavy metal ions, improving separation capabilities. TpPa-SO₃H/PAN covalent organic framework membranes (COFMs) exhibited superior desalination performance compared to traditional polyamide membranes by utilizing charged groups to enable efficient desalination through electrostatic repulsion, suggesting their potential for ionic and molecular separations. These findings highlight COFs' potential in membrane technology for enhanced separation processes by improving permeability, selectivity, and stability. In this review, COF applied for the separation process is discussed.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2023

Gas separation technology becomes more useful because key gases such as H₂ and CO₂ regarding renewable energy resources and environmental pollutant can be effectively extracted in mixed gases. For reducing energy consumption on gas separation, membrane and adsorption processes are widely used. In both processes, porous materials are needed as membrane and adsorbent. In particular, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), one class of the porous materials, have been developed for the purpose of gas adsorption and separation. While the number of the MOF structures is increasing due to chemical and structural tunability, good MOF membranes and adsorbents have been rarely reported by trial-and-error experiments. To accelerate the discovery of high-performing porous materials that can separate H₂ and CO₂, a high-throughput computational screening technique was used as efficient skill. This review introduces crucial studies of porous materials and the high-throughput computational screening works focusing on gas separation of H₂ and CO₂.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.226-231
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• 2017

1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ($BMIM^+BF_4{^-}$) and $Al_2O_3$ as metal oxide for preparation of composite membrane were utilized for the $CO_2$ separation. When 13 nm $Al_2O_3$ nanoparticles were incorporated into ionic liquid $BMIM^+BF_4{^-}$, the separation performance for composite membrane showed the selectivity ($CO_2/N_2$) of 30.5 and $CO_2$ permeance of 45.7 GPU. The enhanced separation performance was attributable to the increased $CO_2$ solubility by both oxide layer of $Al_2O_3$ and abundant free ions of ionic liquid. In particular, $Al_2O_3$ nanoparticles acted as obstacles to nitrogen gas, resulting in the decrease of permeability of nitrogen gas. As a result, the carbon dioxide separation performance could be enhanced.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.240-247
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• 2023

Even among gas separation methods, CO₂ capture and separation via membranes is an ever-growing field, with many different membrane compositions continually being developed. Ionic liquid (IL) based composite membranes show excellent performance values in separating CO₂. Similarly, various copolymer/IL composite membranes also display improved performance. The addition of fillers such as graphene oxide to these copolymer/IL composite membranes shows a further enhanced version of these fillers, most likely due to the strong interactions that occur between ILs and organic fillers, which consequently improves factors such as the affinity, selectivity, and adsorption of CO₂. Copolymer/IL composite membranes utilizing a metal-organic framework (MOF) showed improved CO₂ permeability. This review discusses the study of various combinations of ionic liquid and copolymer composite membranes for carbon dioxide separation.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.289-295
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• 2019

Effects of various reaction factors such as pressure, time, and temperature on clathrate formation were investigated for hydroquinone with $CO_2$ and $N_2$. Experimental and spectroscopic results indicate that $CO_2$ plays more preferential role in forming hydroquinone clathrates than $N_2$. These results can be used in application of selective $CO_2$ separation from flue gases with the formation of clathrate compounds.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.155-181
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• 2024

In recent years, significant research has been conducted to enhance the performance of existing membranes for efficient CO₂ capture, aiming to expand their application in carbon capture processes. Membrane technology has emerged as a promising carbon capture approach to addressing the net-zero challenge due to its cost and energy efficiency, continuous operation, and compact process size. Among the various types of membranes studied, mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) have been proposed as an alternative to conventional membranes to enhance the efficiency of gas separation processes. Various common 2D nanomaterials, characterized by their ease of modification, functionalization, and compatibility with other materials, have been used to create efficient MMMs for gas separation. This article comprehensively reviews the recent developments in MMMs using 2D nanomaterials. It also discusses the current challenges and prospects of 2D nanomaterial-based membranes for CO₂ separation and capture.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.453-466
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• 2020

As the demand for eco-friendly energy increases to overcome the energy shortage and environmental pollution crisis, hydrogen economy has been proposed as a potential solution. Accordingly, an economical and efficient hydrogen production is considered to be an essential industrial process. Research on applying hydrogen separation membranes for H₂/CO₂ separation to the production of highly concentrated hydrogen by purifying H₂ and capturing CO₂ simultaneously from synthetic gas produced by gasification is in progress nowadays. In high temperature environments, the membrane separation process using glassy polymeric membrane with H₂ selectivity has the potential for CO₂ capture performance, and is an energy and cost effective system since polybenzimicazole (PBI)-based separators show excellent chemical and mechanical stability under high-temperature operation conditions. Thus, the development of high-performance PBI hydrogen separators has been rapidly progressing in recent years. This overview focuses on the recent developments of PBI-based membranes including structure modified, cross-linked, blended and carbonized membranes for applications to the industrial hydrogen separation process.