Studies on the sulfonation of poly(phenylene oxide) (PPO) and permeation behavior of gases and water vapor through sulfonated PPO membranes. II. Permeation behavior of gases and water vapor through sulfonated PPO membranes

The permeation behaviors of water vapor and gases were studied for both PPO and SPPO of different sulfonation degree. It was found that the permeability of water vapor increased, and those of oxygen and nitrogen decreased; thus the selectivity for water vapor over gases increased remarkably with the increase of sulfonation degree. The possibility of using SPPO as a gas dehumidification membrane material is discussed.