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DOE OSTI · 3020514

Polymer-Derived Amorphous Aluminosilicate Nanomembranes for H 2 Purification

Bui, Vinh T. [State Univ. of New York at Buffalo, NY (United States)]·Tirino, Amandine [State Univ. of New York at Buffalo, NY (United States)]·Tandel, Ameya Manoj [State Univ. of New York at Buffalo, NY (United States)]·Hu, Leiqing [State Univ. of New York at Buffalo, NY (United States)]·Deng, Erda [State Univ. of New York at Buffalo, NY (United States)]·Zhu, Lingxiang [National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA (United States); NETL Support Contractor, Pittsburgh, PA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000160779579)·Ha, Shixian [Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States)]·Lee, Won-Il [Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States)] (ORCID:0000000310439933)·Kisslinger, Kim [Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)]·Nam, Chang-Yong [Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States); Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)] (ORCID:0000000290934063)·Lin, Haiqing [State Univ. of New York at Buffalo, NY (United States)] (ORCID:000000018042154X)
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Abstract

Aluminosilicate zeolite membranes with robust microporous crystalline structures are attractive for the molecular separation of H 2 from light gases, but their large-scale fabrication is complicated and costly, hindering their practical applications. Herein, we present polymer-derived amorphous aluminosilicate nanomembranes that combine the exceptional processability of polymers with the superior gas separation properties of aluminosilicates. Specifically, thin-film composite membranes comprising 150 nm polydimethylsiloxane were first treated with oxygen plasma to generate 10 nm polyorganosilica (POSi) on the surface, which were then subjected to few-cycle atomic layer deposition (ALD) using trimethylaluminum as a metal precursor and water vapor as a coreactant. This scalable two-step process yields few-nanometer amorphous aluminosilicates with strong size-sieving ability. For example, three-cycle ALD treatment of POSi increases H 2 /CO 2 selectivity from 39 to 200 and H 2 /CH 4 selectivity from 190 to 500, while decreasing H 2 permeance from 990 to 210 GPU at 150 °C, superior to the state-of-the-art membranes. In conclusion, rapid and scalable manufacturing of amorphous aluminosilicate nanolayers can also be of interest for catalysis and adsorption applications.

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36 MATERIALS SCIENCEH2 purificationatomic layer depositioncarbon captureorganosilica nanomembranespolymer-derived amorphous aluminosilicates

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Bui, Vinh T. [State Univ. of New York at Buffalo, NY (United States)], Tirino, Amandine [State Univ. of New York at Buffalo, NY (United States)], Tandel, Ameya Manoj [State Univ. of New York at Buffalo, NY (United States)], Hu, Leiqing [State Univ. of New York at Buffalo, NY (United States)], Deng, Erda [State Univ. of New York at Buffalo, NY (United States)], Zhu, Lingxiang [National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA (United States); NETL Support Contractor, Pittsburgh, PA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000160779579), Ha, Shixian [Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States)], Lee, Won-Il [Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States)] (ORCID:0000000310439933), Kisslinger, Kim [Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)], Nam, Chang-Yong [Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States); Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)] (ORCID:0000000290934063), Lin, Haiqing [State Univ. of New York at Buffalo, NY (United States)] (ORCID:000000018042154X). 2026-02-02. Polymer-Derived Amorphous Aluminosilicate Nanomembranes for H 2 Purification. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.5c18108

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36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗