Charged Surface of Polyacrylonitrile Colloid and Its Application to N 2 /CO 2 Separation

• Published in: Macromolecular chemistry and physics Vol. 225; no. 3
• Main Authors: Kwon, Tae‐Gyun, Lee, Juyeong, Jo, Oong Hyeon, Kang, Beom‐Goo, Kang, Sang Wook
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.02.2024
• ISSN: 1022-1352; 1521-3935
• DOI: 10.1002/macp.202300323

Abstract Nano‐sized polyacrylonitrile (PAN) colloidal dispersions of 44.6 ± 8.3 nm prepared by the modified emulsion polymerization method are utilized for gas separation. The emulsion (o/w) polymerization using organic solvent instead of precipitation polymerization is utilized, and both the size of the colloidal particle and the zeta potential could be controlled by the content of the material constituting emulsion. Thus, the solubility of CO 2 is dependent on the zeta potential on the surface of colloids, resulting in that the degree of absorption of CO 2 is controllable. Then, N 2 /CO 2 separation experiment is carried out by applying the synthesized PAN colloidal dispersions into a polymer composite. The composite membranes are prepared by adding PAN colloidal dispersions based on poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP). It is observed that the neat PVP membrane has no separation performance, while the PVP/PAN colloidal composite film shows the improved N 2 /CO 2 selectivity of 17. This improved separation performance is due to the fact that the solubility of CO 2 decreased by absorption to specific functional groups, resulting in the enhancement of N 2 separation.