Fabrication of zeolite MFI membranes supported by α-Al2O3 hollow ceramic fibers for CO2 separation

High-performance and continuous zeolite MFI membranes have been successfully fabricated, using in situ hydrothermal synthetic method, on alpha-Al2O3 hollow ceramic fibers (HCFs). The CO2 separation properties of the as-prepared MFI membrane are studied by single gas permeation and binary gas permeation of CO2/N-2 and CO2/CH4. The separation results show that the membrane exhibits high CO2 selectivity with separation factors of 9.2 and 6.0 for CO2/N-2 and CO2/CH4, respectively. A preferred permeance for CO2 in the binary gas mixtures is about 3 x 10(-7)mol/(m(2) s Pa). Furthermore, the supported MFI membrane possesses high mechanical strength, strong thermal stability, and high reproducibility, which are expected to have potential applications in industrial CO2 recycling.