Influence of Particle Size on the Performance of Polysulfone Magnetic Membranes for O2/N2 Separation

Magnetic mixed‐matrix membranes (MMMs) are fabricated using polysulfone (PSf) and iron oxide (Fe) for O2/N2 separation. The effects of Fe nanoparticle size and content on the performance of the membranes are investigated using a novel gas permeation unit in the presence of various magnetic fields. The results indicate that the O2 permeation is improved by adding Fe nanoparticles into the PSf matrix regardless of the particle size. Furthermore, the selectivity of PSf and PSf‐Fe membranes is considerably enhanced by applying a magnetic field during the permeation experiments. The O2 permeability and O2/N2 selectivity of PSf‐Fe50 MMMs in the presence of a magnetic field are higher than those of neat PSf membranes. Novel magnetic mixed‐matrix membranes were produced by incorporating iron oxide nanoparticles into a polysulfone matrix for O2/N2 separation. The presence of magnetic particles inside the membranes considerably enhances the gas permeability. By applying a magnetic field during the gas separation stage, the separation performance of the membranes obviously moved toward the Robeson's upper bound.