Effect of Stabilization Condition on PEI/PVP-Based Carbon Hollow Fiber Membranes Properties

Abstract

The concept of carbon membrane fabrication has attracted a great deal of attention among membrane researchers around the world in recent years. Stabilization is one of the important steps involved during the fabrication of the carbon membranes. The stabilization of PEI/PVP membrane was carried out in a tubular furnace under two types of environments (air and N₂). The resulting set of experiments from thermogravimetry analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to investigate the effect of stabilization environments on the properties of the prepared carbon hollow fiber membranes (CHFM)s in terms of their morphological structure, thermal property, chemical structure, and microstructure. The detailed studies with regard to the chemical reaction mechanism occurring during the heat treatment process of the PEI/PVP-based CHFMs were explored. During the heat treatment process, PEI/PVP membranes underwent various physical and chemical changes, such as coloration, shrinkage, crosslinking reaction, and random scission. Based on overall properties, the stabilization step under air environment prior to carbonization step showed the best condition for the preparation of CHFMs derived from PEI/PVP.

Keywords:

• carbon membrane
• environments
• hollow fiber
• stabilization
• thermal properties

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

One of the authors, W.N.W. Salleh, gratefully acknowledges the financial support under the National Science Fellowship (NSF) from the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Environment of Malaysia.

Notes

*Tested at 7 bar, 25°C.