MXene/poly(ethylene glycol) mixed matrix membranes with excellent permeance for highly efficient separation of CO2/N2 and CO2/CH4

Membrane separation systems have received extensive attention in the field of gas separation due to its low cost, high-efficiency and eco-friendly advantages. However, it is till challenging to break through the trade-off effect for a highly efficient membrane separation process. Herein, a high-performance CO2-philic MXene/PEG mixed matrix membrane is prepared by a simple vacuum filtration process. Excellent CO2 permeance and selectivity in separation of the CO2/N2 and CO2/CH4 is shown for the as-prepared MXene/PEG (600) mixed matrix membrane because of CO2-philic property of the PEG and the nanochannels of the MXene. In permeation experiment, exceptional CO2 permeance of 1626.99 GPU and ideal selectivity of 32.18 for CO2/N2 and 27.84 for CO2/CH4, is exhibited, respectively, for 25 wt% MXene/PEG (600) mixed matrix membrane. This study provides a new strategy for design and fabrication of the CO2-philic MXene-based membrane with highly efficient separation of the CO2 from natural gas and flue gas.