Chemical alteration of LDPE hollow fibers exposed to monoethanolamine solutions used as absorbent for CO2 capture process

Stability of Porous Polymeric Membranes in Amine Solvents for Membrane Contactor Applications

Membrane gas-liquid contactors have great potential to meet the challenges of amine CO₂ capture. In this case, the most effective approach is the use of composite membranes. However, to obtain these, it is necessary to take into account the chemical and morphological resistance of membrane supports to long-term exposure to amine absorbents and their oxidative degradation products. In this work, we studied the chemical and morphological stability of a number of commercial porous polymeric membranes exposed to various types of alkanolamines with the addition of heat-stable salt anions as a model of real industrial CO₂ amine solvents. The results of the physicochemical analysis of the chemical and morphological stability of porous polymer membranes after exposure to alkanolamines, their oxidative degradation products, and oxygen scavengers were presented. According to the results of studies by FTIR spectroscopy and AFM, a significant destruction of porous membranes based on polypropylene (PP), polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF), polyethersulfone (PES) and polyamide (nylon, PA) was revealed. At the same time, the polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membranes had relatively high stability. On the basis of these results, composite membranes with porous supports that are stable in amine solvents can be successfully obtained to create liquid-liquid and gas-liquid membrane contactors for membrane deoxygenation.

Wetting mechanism of a PVDF hollow fiber membrane in immersed membrane contactors for CO2 capture in the presence of monoethanolamine

As an emerging technology, membrane gas absorption (MGA) contactors for carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture exhibit great advantages compared to conventional chemical CO₂ absorption processes.