Induced capillary condensation mechanism for gas transport in short fiber reinforced polyurethane composite membrane

فاقد چكيده فارسي

In this study, we evaluated the effect of polymer/fiber interface in polyurethane composite membrane for gas transport. Short glass wool fibers were used as polar reinforcement for polyurethane matrix. Membranes were prepared using solution casting and solvent evaporation technic. Cross section morphology of prepared membranes was investigated using scanning electron microscope (SEM). Results showed that fibers are properly dispersed in polyurethane matrix. In order to investigate the effects of polar glass wool fiber on phase separation and transition temperatures of polyurethanes, differential scanning calorimetery (DSC) was employed. The obtained results revealed that polar surface of fibers are suitable sites to adsorb polar hard segments of polyurethane which causes an increase in phase separation and consequently, creation of new domains for them. Gas permeation properties of prepared composites was evaluated using constant pressure method for pure CO2 and CH4 gases. Obtained results showed that CO2 and CH4 permeabilities increased with increasing fiber content, but after a critical one, CO2 permeability shows reducing trend which can be as a result of condensation of condensable CO2 gas in polar interface between fiber and polymer matrix.