Design, synthesis, characterization and optimization of PTT-b-PEO copolymers: A new membrane material for CO2 separation

The design and synthesis of polymers with well-defined properties (tailor-made) are reported in this paper. The work focuses on the design of experiments, synthesis and characterization of poly(trimethylene terephthalate)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (PTT-b-PEO) copolymers as CO2-philic membrane materials. The statistical analysis of experimental data, data fitting to mathematical models, as well as the optimization of CO2 permeability is discussed. By these means we synthesized optimal materials with promising CO2 separation performance (CO2 permeability = 183–200 Barrer and CO2/N2 selectivity >50); they are also promising because the synthesis is simple, highly reproducible and might be scalable for producing on large volumes. Thus, these new and tailored polymers might have potential applications as membrane material for CO2-capture.