Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Gin, Douglas L.
• Noble, Richard D.

Titel

Designing the Next Generation of Chemical Separation Membranes

Ist Teil von

• Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science), 2011-05, Vol.332 (6030), p.674-676

Ort / Verlag

Washington: American Association for the Advancement of Science

Erscheinungsjahr

2011

Quelle

American Association for the Advancement of Science

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• New materials can be prepared as membranes that may allow their performance to beat long-standing limits. Synthetic membranes are used in many separation processes, from industrial-scale ones—such as separating atmospheric gases for medical and industrial use, and removing salt from seawater—to smaller-scale processes in chemical synthesis and purification. Membranes are commonly solid materials, such as polymers, that have good mechanical stability and can be readily processed into high–surface area, defect-free, thin films. These features are critical for obtaining not only good chemical separation but also high throughput. Membrane-based chemical separations can have advantages over other methods—they can take less energy than distillation or liquefaction, use less space than absorbent materials, and operate in a continuous mode. In some cases, such as CO2 separations for CO 2 capture, their performance must be improved. We discuss how membranes work, and some notable new approaches for improving their performance.