PVA/nanocellulose nanocomposite membranes for CO2 separation from flue gas

Abstract

In this paper, we explore the use of nanocelluloses as an additive to poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanocomposite membranes for CO2/N2 mixed-gas separation. Our findings are that several types of nanocellulose can be used to improve membrane performance. PVA/cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) nanocomposite membranes have the most promising performance, with increased CO2 permeance (127.8 ± 5.5 GPU) and increased CO2/N2 separation factor (39 ± 0.4) compared to PVA composite membranes, with permeance 105.5 ± 1.9 GPU and separation factor 36 ± 0.5. The performance of PVA/CNC membranes is similar compared to PVA/carbon nanotubes (CNTs) membranes shown earlier. Thus, CNTs can be replaced by CNC that is biodegradable and non-toxic. Investigating several different nanocellulose types reveal that a high nanocellulose charge and small nanocellulose particles are important nanocellulose traits that improve membrane performance.