CO2/N2 separation using supported ionic liquid membranes with green and cost-effective [Choline][Pro]/PEG200 mixtures

The high price and toxicity of ionic liquids (ILs) have limited the design and application of supported ionic liquid membranes (SILMs) for CO2 separation in both academic and industrial fields. In this work, [Choline][Pro]/polyethylene glycol 200 (PEG200) mixtures were selected to prepare novel SILMs because of their green and cost-effective characterization, and the CO2/N2 separation with the prepared SILMs was investigated experimentally at temperatures from 308.15 to 343.15K. The temperature effect on the permeability, solubility and diffusivity of CO2 was modeled with the Arrhenius equation. A competitive performance of the prepared SILMs was observed with high CO2 permeability ranged in 343.3–1798.6barrer and high CO2/N2 selectivity from 7.9 to 34.8. It was also found that the CO2 permeability increased 3 times by decreasing the viscosity of liquids from 370 to 38mPa·s. In addition, the inherent mechanism behind the significant permeability enhancement was revealed based on the diffusion-reaction theory, i.e. with the addition of PEG200, the overall resistance was substantially decreased and the SILMs process was switched from diffusion-control to reaction-control. SILMs based on [Choline][Pro]/PEG200 with a competitive performance in CO2/N2 separation were prepared. The mechanism study revealed that the significant enhancement of the permeability was due to the process altering from diffusion-control to reaction-control. [Display omitted]