Novel preparation of NaA/carbon nanocomposite thin films with high permeance for CO2/CH4 separation

Novel NaA/carbon nanocomposite thin films were successfully prepared on a porous a-Al2O3 substrate by incorporatingnanosized NaA zeolite into novolak-type phenolic resin.The prepared films were characterized by XRD,SEM and single gaspermeation tests.The NaA zeolite/carbon nanocomposite thin films exhibited that the ideal separation factor of CO2/CH4 was 28.4and the carbon dioxide flux was 3.39*10-7mol/(Pa m2s)at room temperature and under a pressure difference of 100 kPa,whichwas two orders of magnitude higher than that of pure carbon membrane prepared at the same procedures and conditions as those ofcomposite films.From the SEM images,the films were continuous and highly intergrown.Compared with carbon membranes,thethickness of nanocomposite films was drastically decreased,which was helpful to reduce the diffusion resistance and increase theflux of gas permeance.