PI/NCC-Based Tubular Carbon Membrane: Influence of Aging Times towards Oxygen Separation Performance

Norazlianie Sazali; Wan Norhayati Wan Salleh; Ahmad Fauzi Ismail; Kumaran Kadirgama; Mahendran Samykano; Gholamhassan Najafi; Nur Izwanne Mahyon

Authors

Norazlianie Sazali Advanced Membrane Technology Research Centre (AMTEC), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor Darul Takzim, Malaysia
Wan Norhayati Wan Salleh Advanced Membrane Technology Research Centre (AMTEC), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor Darul Takzim, Malaysia
Ahmad Fauzi Ismail Advanced Membrane Technology Research Centre (AMTEC), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor Darul Takzim, Malaysia
Kumaran Kadirgama Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University Malaysia Pahang, 26600 Pekan, Pahang Darul Makmur, Malaysia
Mahendran Samykano Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University Malaysia Pahang, 26600 Pekan, Pahang Darul Makmur, Malaysia
Gholamhassan Najafi Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
Nur Izwanne Mahyon Barrer Centre, Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London, SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom

Keywords:

Aging times, carbon membranes, P84 co-polyimide (PI), nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC), oxygen separation

Abstract

Tubular carbon membrane was prepared from carbonization of P84 co-polyimide (PI) and nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) which had been carbonized under Argon atmosphere at 800°C with a heating rate of 3°C/min. The resultant TCMs were aged for a specified duration (new, three days, one month, and three months) to study the effects of aging times on the oxygen separation properties (permeance and perm-selectivity) of TCMs. The investigation finding reveals that the aging times could be a factor that affects the transport properties of the fabricated membrane. The pores of the fabricated TCMs samples tend to shrink over time to reach a stable thermodynamic state. The results also showed that newly fabricated TCMs (no aging) possess the highest gas permeance and perm-selectivities over the aged TCM samples. The highest selectivity was achieved at 9.29±2.5.