(286b) Polymer-Supported and Unsupported MOF Gas Separation Membranes

MOF and other frameworks used in membranes require fabrication practicality and scale up. Using flexible polymeric UF membrane substrates is less expensive and more practical than ceramic supports, for utilization in modules. A step-nucleation in situ self-repair process achieved rollable large-area ultrathin MOF membranes, from which 4800 cm² spiral-wound modules were prepared¹. Flat-sheet membranes with very high gas permeances of >6000 GPU were obtained for ethylene and propylene, with selectivities of >30 for C₂H₄/C₂H₆ and >24 for C₃H₆/C₃H₈. Using a different MOF growth process, we previously achieved propylene permeance 2000–3000 GPU with very high propylene/propane selectivity of 90–120². Recently, we reported a more general process for making large-area MOF membranes³. Other MOF glass‒foam membranes were explored for high permeance methane-selective CH₄/N₂ separations⁴.

1. Step-nucleation in situ self-repair to prepare rollable large-area ultrathin MOF membranes, Adv. Mater. 2023, 35, 2307013.

2. Ultra-thin low-crystallinity MOF membranes fabricated by interface layer polarization induction, Adv. Mater. 2020, 32, 2002165.

3. Large-area ultrathin metal-organic framework membranes fabricated on flexible polymer supports for gas separations, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2024, online. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202404058

4. ZIF-62 glass foam self-supported membranes to address CH₄/N₂ separations, Nat. Mater. 2023, 22, 888–894.