Journal article
Tailoring MXene composition and structure for High-Performance mixed matrix membranes in CO2 separation applications
Separation and purification technology, v 371, 133360
30 Oct 2025
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
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Incorporating two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials into polymer matrices can be an effective strategy to increase the performance of membranes, overcoming the permeability/selectivity trade-off. So far, MXene-based gas separation mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) have been limited to Ti3C2 and they demonstrated high gas separation performance. However, information about the influence of composition and structure of MXene on the performance of MMM is still lacking. Herein, a systematic investigation of the effect of the chemical composition and number of layers of MXenes on the CO2 transport properties of MMMs is reported. Mo2TiC2, Ti2C and V2C MXenes were incorporated into a Pebax-1657 matrix. The results revealed that the number of MXene layers considerably affects the dispersion of MXenes in the polymer matrix that contain crystalline and amorphous domains, M3C2 MXenes (Mo2TiC2 and Ti3C2) improve membrane separation more than M2C MXenes (Ti2C and V2C). In addition, in the case of M3C2 MXenes (Mo2TiC2 and Ti3C2), composition strongly affect the dispersion of nanosheets in the polymer, as confirmed by X-ray diffraction and mechanical properties analysis. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation combined with gas permeation models further confirmed the excellent compatibility of MXenes with the polymer chains. Significant improvement in CO2 permeability (up to 70%) and CO2/N2 separation selectivity (up to 137%) was achieved, placing MXene MMMs above the 2008 Robeson upper bound, implying defect-free interfaces and excellent matrix dispersion. Finally, the impact of feed composition, temperature, and pressure on gas separation performance of the MMMs was fully investigated. Our findings indicate the tremendous potential that tuning MXene properties can have for the development of high-performance gas separation membranes.
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Details
- Title
- Tailoring MXene composition and structure for High-Performance mixed matrix membranes in CO2 separation applications
- Creators
- Abtin Ebadi Amooghin - Arak UniversityAhmad Arabi Shamsabadi - University of PennsylvaniaMohammad Mehdi Moftakhari Sharifzadeh - Department of Chemical Engineering, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, IranAmirali Salehi - Tarbiat Modares UniversityHamidreza Sanaeepur - Arak UniversityMostafa Dadashi Firouzjaei - University of AlabamaVahid Rad - Drexel UniversityHesam Jafarian - University of AlabamaMark A. Elliott - University of AlabamaHermenegildo Garcia (Corresponding Author) - Universitat Politècnica de València
- Publication Details
- Separation and purification technology, v 371, 133360
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Chemical and Biological Engineering
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:001490367600003
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-105004414455
- Other Identifier
- 991022197400604721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Engineering, Chemical