Preparation and Characterization of Mixed Matrix Membrane based on Polysulfone (PSF) and Lanthanum Orthoferrite (LaFeO_3) for Gas Separation

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of polysulfone (PSF) and lanthanum orthoferrite (LaFeO_3) incorporated mixed matrix membrane (MMM) on gas permeation and selectivity properties. PSF/LaFeO_3 MMMs were prepared with various weights loading of LaFeO_3. The membranes obtained were characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and Fourier-transform infra-red (FT-IR). The gas transport properties of MMM were measured using single gas permeation set up (CO_2, CH_4, O_2 and N_2) at ambient temperature, and feed pressure of 2, 4 and 6 bar. The permeation test showed that the mixed matrix membrane exhibited high permeability. With increasing LaFeO_3 weight loading to 1.0%, the highest permeability values were 47.74 GPU for CO_2, 29.85 GPU for CH4, 57.56 GPU for O_2, and 40.66 GPU for N_2. The results also showed that by incorporating 1.0wt% of LaFeO_3 into PSF matrix, the highest CO_2/CH4 and O_2/N_2 selectivity of 1.60 and 1.42 respectively were obtained. Overall, all the resultants MMM showed higher permeability and selectivity compared to pure PSF membrane.