Lithium chloride (LiCl)-modified polyethersulfone (PES) substrate surface pore architectures on thin poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) dense layer formation and the composite membrane's performance in gas separation

The use of pore forming agents has been notable for improving the water flux in a water-based separation membrane but are rarely being studied as a methodology to influence the substrate's surface architectures for composite membrane fabrication in gas separation. In this study, the influence of lithium chloride (LiCl) on the surface pore architectures and hence, the gas permeance, has been studied in both bare and composite forms with poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS). 1–4 wt% of LiCl was mixed with the dope solution of PES/NMP in the ratio 0.19 and was casted via the dry–wet phase inversion method. Bare substrates were noted to possess increasingly larger surface pore sizes but at a diminishing surface pore density with maximum surface porosity at 2 wt% LiCl. The permeances were, however, significantly reduced with the increase in the LiCl content from 105 300 to 4300 GPU for N(2) gas, presumably due to the thicker skin layer. Nevertheless, the porous surface morphology was confirmed and exhibited Knudsen selectivity with a CO(2)/N(2) selectivity of about 0.8, signifying minimal gas flow resistance by the substrates. Upon coating with a similar amount of thin PDMS layer, the composite permeances retain the same trend with values from 361.9 GPU for 0 wt% LiCl substrates to 68.8 GPU for 4 wt% LiCl substrates for CO(2) gas at a consistent selectivity of about 14. As the PDMS layer of the same volumes were used and no significant difference in the coating thickness was noted, the mixed influence of pore intrusion and lateral diffusion is hypothesised at the substrate–coating interface owing to the different surface pore architectures of the substrates.