CO2 Separation Using Facilitated Transport Ion Exchange Membranes

The use of ion-exchange membranes as supports for facilitated transport of C02 is demonstrated. Two different ionomer films were evaluated. The ionomers were a perfluorosul-fonic acid film and a sulfonated polybenzimida-zole film. Sodium (Na+) was exchanged into the membrane for diffusion experiments and ethylene-diamine (EDA) was exchanged for facilitated transport experiments. The results indicate that thin perfluorosulfonic acid membranes provide the best CO2 flux and can also provide exceptionally high selectivity.