Surface of CuO Nanoparticles Modified by p-Benzoquinone for N2-Selective Membrane

• Published in: Membranes (Basel) Vol. 12; no. 12; p. 1229
• Main Authors: Lee, Juyeong, Sohn, Hiesang, Kang, Sang Wook
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 05.12.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Benzoquinone; Carbon dioxide; Cellulose acetate; Chemical properties; Climate change; composite membrane; Copper oxides; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Electron microscopy; Emissions; Ethanol; Experiments; Gas absorption; Global warming; Infrared spectroscopy; interaction; Ions; Manufacturing; Membranes; Nanoparticles; Permeability; permeance; Photoelectron spectroscopy; Photoelectrons; Polymers; Polyvinylpyrrolidone; Scanning electron microscopy; Selectivity; Separation; separation performance; Solvents; Thermogravimetric analysis; Transmission electron microscopy
• ISSN: 2077-0375; 2077-0375
• DOI: 10.3390/membranes12121229

In this study, CuO nanoparticles and p-benzoquinone (p-BQ) were added to a polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) matrix to increase N2/CO2 selectivity. The added p-BQ allowed CuO to be distributed in a uniform size in the PVP/CuO composite membrane and the matrix to be flexible by forming the interaction with PVP. The surface modification of CuO by p-BQ and the well-dispersed size affected the increase in the separation performance. The PVP/CuO/p-BQ composite membranes showed an N2/CO2 selectivity of about 23.1 with N2 permeance of about 13.3 GPU, while the separation performance of PVP was not observed. The enhanced separation performance is attributable to the surface of CuO nanoparticles modified by p-BQ inducing CO2 molecules to be relatively slowly transported by the adsorption properties in the polymer matrix. The chemical properties and coordinative interaction for PVP/CuO/p-BQ composite membrane were measured by FT-IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, UV–vis, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy.