Asymmetric gas separation membranes with superior capabilities for gas separation

Abstract

This invention relates to a method of making flat sheet asymmetric membranes, including cellulose diacetate/cellulose triacetate blended membranes, polyimide membranes, and polyimide/polyethersulfone blended membranes by formulating the polymer or the blended polymers dopes in a dual solvent mixture containing 1,3 dioxolane and a second solvent, such as N,N′-methylpyrrolidinone (NMP). The dopes are tailored to be closed to the point of phase separation with or without suitable non-solvent additives such as methanol, acetone, decane or a mixture of these non-solvents. The flat sheet asymmetric membranes are cast by the phase inversion processes using water as the coagulation bath and annealing bath. The dried membranes are coated with UV curable silicone rubber. The resulting asymmetric membranes having a skin thickness of less than 100 nm, exhibit excellent permeability and selectivity compared to the intrinsic dense film performances.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.