Study on gas separation by supported liquid membranes applying novel ionic liquids

In the present study, the permeability of H(2), N(2) and CO(2) was investigated through Supported liquid membranes prepared by using four types of novel ionic liquids (VACEM 42, VACEM 44, VACEM 47, VACEM 58) under various gas phase pressures (2.2 bar, 1.8 bar, 1.4 bar) and temperatures (30 degrees C, 40 degrees C, 50 degrees C). VACEM type ionic liquids, which are built up of a common hexafluorophosphate anion and different cations, were tailored in order to dissolve CO(2). Since CO(2) can cause unfavorable changes in the mechanical and chemical properties of the PVDF membranes used as the Supporting phase, the stability of the membranes was studied by measuring decrease in H(2) permeability after the permeation of CO(2). For determining selectivity the membranes were used to separate binary and ternary gas mixtures. It was found that the permeability of CO(2) was much higher than the permeability of the other two gases through the membranes prepared with VACEM type ionic liquids. Gas permeability exhibited an increase with increasing temperature and a slight decrease with increasing gas phase pressure. Experiments concerning stability showed that after several CO(2) permeations through membranes containing VACEM type ionic liquids the permeability of H(2) slightly decreased while the CO(2)/H(2) selectivity improved. It was found that supported ionic liquid membranes prepared with VACEM type ionic liquids Could be Successfully used in separating CO(2) from other gases.