Synthesis of 3-(Trimethoxysilyl)PropylMethacrylateFunctionalized GrapheneOxideBased Mixed MatrixMembrane andItsApplication for O2/N2Separation

The incorporation of functionalized graphene oxide (GO) in mixed matrix membrane (MMM) isexpected to greatly increase the permeability and selectivity for O2/N2separation. In the presentstudy, GO functionalized with 3-(Trimethoxysilyl) propyl methacrylate (TMOPMA) was used asinorganic filler and incorporated in to a PVC/pAMPS based MMM to increase the separationefficiency. Membranes of different compositions were synthesized and the best morphology wasachieved with 0.5 g of PVC, 1.0 g of pAMPS and0.015 g of filler. The synthesized membrane andinorganic filler were characterized using SEM, EDS, FTIR, Raman and XRD spectroscopy.Moreover, the gas permeation studies were performed to check the separation factor ofsynthesized membrane for O2/N2. Themaximum permeability achieved for O2and N2was 4097and 3373 barrers, respectively at 5 bar pressure. For the selectivity, a gradual increasing trend wasobserved with the increase in permeability. The maximum selectivity achieved was 1.215 at 5 barpressure. The results revealed an increasing trend in selectivity with the increase in permeability ofgases across the membrane with the increase in feed gas pressure.