Comparative studies on the effects of casting solvent on physico‐chemical and gas transport properties of dense polysulfone membrane used for CO2/CH4 separation

The effects of casting solvents on the physico–chemical and transport properties of polysulfone membranes were investigated. Comparative analysis of the properties of membranes prepared from a new solvent (diethylene glycol dimethyether, DEG) and other commonly used solvents (1‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidone, N,N‐dimethylacetamide, dimethyl sulfoxide and N,N‐dimethylformamide) were performed using gas permeation, X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analyses. The degree of polymer–solvent interaction was evaluated using the solvent molar volume, and Hansen and Flory–Huggins parameters. Membrane prepared from DEG displayed a relatively higher permeability of 29.08 barrer and CO2/CH4 selectivity of 23.12 compared to membranes prepared from other solvents. This improved performance was attributed to the better interaction between the DEG solvent and polysulfone than other solvents that were considered. DEG has the highest molar volume of 142.280 cm3/mol and the lowest Flory–Huggins parameter of 0.129. Thus a thorough evaluation of polymer–solvent interaction is very crucial in preparing membranes with optimum performance.