Fabrication of mixed-matrix membranes with MOF-derived porous carbon for CO2 separation

Mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) have shown great advantages but still face some challenges, such as the trade-off between permeability and selectivity, stability, and the lack of efficient ways to enhance them simultaneously. Here, the fabrication of MMMs with metal-organic frameworks derived porous carbons (MOF-PCs) as fillers which exhibit selective-facilitating CO 2 transport passage originating from interactions between fillers and CO 2 is showed. With the aid of the developed multicalcination method, MOF-PCs with variable N-contents were prepared and incorporated into PPO-PEG matrix for the first time to prepare MMMs, which show excellent separation performance for CO 2 /CH 4 mixture with a tunable separation performance by combining different N-contents and surface areas of MOF-PCs. Moreover, the developed MMMs have hydrothermal and chemical stability. This work not only presents a series of MMMs with both good separation properties and stability, it also provides useful information for guiding the fabrication of high performance MMMs for practical application. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J , 64: 3400–3409, 2018