In situ growth of metal-organic frameworks on a porous ultrafiltration membrane for gas separation

We demonstrate the synthesis of CuBTC and ZIF-8 on a polysulfone based porous asymmetric ultrafiltration (UF) membrane by in situ growth followed by the LBL deposition of crystals without any need for pre-seeding or surface modification of the membrane. In this way, the top surface of the UF membrane pores is completely covered by MOFs; while the remaining part of the membrane offers a flexible support to the MOFs. The pore apertures of the MOF nanoparticles located at the pore opening of the UF membrane act as channels for the entry of penetrants. The remaining porous sublayer of the membrane carries penetrants on the permeate side without significant resistance. These composite membranes were characterized by PXRD and SEM. The gas permeation study was performed using pure gases of industrial significance (H2, C3H6 and CO2). The performance of CuBTC@PSF showed enhanced selectivity, of 7.2 and 5.7 for H2/CO2 and H2/C3H6 respectively, to that of the pristine PSF membrane.