NAMS 2002 Workshop - ICOM 2008

Gas Separation IV – 1 – Keynote
Thursday July 17, 8:15 AM-9:00 AM, Kaua’i
Polymer-based Multicomponent Membranes for Gas Separation
K. Peinemann (Speaker), GKSS-Forschungszentrum Geesthacht GmbH, Geesthacht, Germany
- klaus-viktor.peinemann@gkss.de
In spite of significant developments of polymeric membranes for gas separation it
seems that the race for better tailor made organic polymers with improved
performance has slowed down during the last years. New developments in the
area of hybrid materials (inorganic/organic, organic/organic) have instead
stimulated membrane research. In recent years the phrases nanocomposites and
nanostructured membrane materials have become the magic formula to attract
attention. Some of the scientific achievements, which have been made in this
field, will be highlighted. But in spite of these achievements very few (any?) of the
sophisticated new materials have found their way into technical applications.
Some will but many will never, because they are too complicated for large scale
applications. This will be discussed using the example of carbon dioxide
capturing. Nanostructured fixed-carrier membranes e.g. show fascinating
performance in lab scale experiments but it is highly unlikely that they will be
used for natural gas or flue gas treatment. Crossing the Robeson line should not
the main criterion for development of a successful gas separation membrane.
The author will discuss simple approaches for manufacturing nanocomposites for
gas separation.