Effects of silica composition on gas permeability of ENR/PVC membrane

Abstract

This paper studied the potential of a hybrid organic-inorganic membrane, ENR/PVC/SiO2 membrane for separation purposes. The ENR/PVC/SiO₂ membranes were prepared using
spontaneous solvent exchange and evaporation techniques. The amount of SiO₂ added was  varied at 1, 3, 5 and 8 wt%. The SEM micrographs showed that pores were developed upon addition of SiO₂. The tensile strength and modulus were also enhanced with increasing amount of SiO₂ up to 5 wt%. At higher SiO₂ loadings, the mechanical strength of the membrane decreased due to the agglomeration of SiO₂ particles. Gas permeation test was done on ENR/PVC/SiO₂ membranes using NO₂ gas and CO₂ gas. The permeability of both gasses increased with the amount of SiO₂ added to the membrane, which attributed to the increase in nanopores. The membranes with SiO₂ had a higher permeability to CO₂ than NO₂

Keywords: epoxidised natural rubber; polyvinyl chloride; membrane; silica; gas separation.