Fabrication and Evaluation of Trimethylmethoxysilane (TMMOS)-Derived Membranes for Gas Separation

Abstract

Gas separation membranes were fabricated with varying trimethylmethoxysilane (TMMOS)/tetraethoxy orthosilicate (TEOS) ratios by a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method at 650 °C and atmospheric pressure. The membrane had a high H2 permeance of 8.3 × 10−7 mol m−2 s−1 Pa−1 with H2/CH4 selectivity of 140 and H2/C2H6 selectivity of 180 at 300 °C. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) measurements indicated existence of methyl groups at high preparation temperature (650 °C), which led to a higher hydrothermal stability of the TMMOS-derived membranes than of a pure TEOS-derived membrane. Temperature-dependence measurements of the permeance of various gas species were used to establish a permeation mechanism. It was found that smaller species (He, H2, and Ne) followed a solid-state diffusion model while larger species (N2, CO2, and CH4) followed a gas translational diffusion model.

Keywords

• silica-based membrane
• hydrogen separation
• CVD
• pore size control
• trimethylmethoxisilane
• separation mechanism