Carbon Molecular Sieve Membrane (CMSM) for Industrial Gas Separation

Membrane separation is an environmental benign technology for 21st century, and is developing quickly to replace the conventional distillation process. Carbon molecular sieve membrane (CMSM) was synthesized through the controlled pyrolysis of polyimide films. The CMSM is symmetric in structure and presents strong sieving effect towards gas molecules of Slightly different diameters. The microstructure of CMSM was manipulated through the thermal treatment program and further modified through activation vapor/chemical depositions. It is demonstrated that CMSM can be synthesized/modified for specific gas mixtures, such as O2/N2, CO2/CH4, C3H6/C3H8, and ect. The pore size distribution, relationship between the permeance selectivity on CMSM for the separation of some gas pairs was also investigated.