The permeability of gases and light hydrocarbons through new polymeric composite membranes based on poly (1-trimethylsilylpropyne)

The flat sheet composite membranes with selective layer made from poly (1-trimethylsilylpropyne) (PTMSP) based on TaCl 5/TIBA and NbCl 5 were developed and studied. The structure of composite membranes was investigated by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). It was found that non-defected PTMSP layer is achieved on polyacrylonitrile (PAN) support (the effective thickness of selective layer is 1–7 μm). The permeability of membrane in relation to single gases (O 2, N 2, CO 2, H 2) and C 1–C 4 hydrocarbons were measured by differential GC permeability method. It is shown that selectivity of homogenous PTMSP films of simple gases is realized for composite membrane. High separation properties for hydrocarbons α (propane/methane) ≈ 5, α ( i-butane/methane) ≈ 11.5 at high flux of components through membrane are demonstrated.