Recent progress on thin film composite membranes for CO2 separation

•The promising membranes for CO2 separation are discussed.•The exploration of CO2 separation membrane in pilot-scale are presented.•The challenges of materials and membrane preparation in large-scale are briefly analyzed. The excess CO2 emission into the atmosphere is one of the important environmental issues nowadays. It is urgent to develop environmentally friendly and low energy technologies to reduce the CO2 emission. Membrane technology shows great potential in CO2 separation because of the inherent merit over other conventional separation techniques. High permselectivity membranes play a vital role in efficient membrane processes. The thin film composite membranes with excellent performance have attracted more and more attentions. In this review, the CO2 separation membranes are grouped into dense polymer membranes, microporous material membranes and mixed matrix membranes. A number of representative membranes with high performance are highlighted. In addition, the exploration of CO2 separation membrane in pilot-scale are presented, followed by a brief analysis on the challenges of materials and membrane preparation in large-scale. Finally, the direction for further research is also discussed. It is believed that the review provides potential insights and guidance for the future development of thin film composite membranes for CO2 separation, and hence promote the development of membrane.