Polyimide-Silica Hybrid Membranes for Gas Separation Applications

本提案描述了用于化学分离的无机-有机混合膜（聚酰亚胺-二氧化硅材料）的合成和表征的研究。杂化材料领域近年来开始受到研究界的关注，因为它有望将每种前驱体材料的最佳特性引入杂化化合物中。无机材料具有高选择性的能力，耐腐蚀环境，但难以加工成通用的机械结构。聚合物膜不像无机化合物那样具有选择性，而且通常热不稳定，但使用注射成型技术更容易加工成中空纤维等方便的形式。在这种混合方法中确定的关键是开发合成技术，使有机和无机前体材料形成共价交联，从而导致合成膜的稳定性。

This proposal describes research into the synthesis and characterization of hybrid inorganic-organic membranes (polyimide-silica materials) for use in chemical separations. The area of hybrid materials has begun to attract the attention of the research community in recent years, because it promises to bring the best characteristics of each precursor material to the hybrid compound. Inorganic materials have the ability to show high selectivities, are resistant to corrosive environments, but difficult to process into versatile mechanical structures. Polymeric membranes do not show the same degree of selectivity as inorganic compounds, and are often thermally labile, but easier to process into convenient forms like hollow fibers-using injection moulding technology. The key identified in this hybrid approach is to develop synthesis techniques that allow both the organic and inorganic precursor materials to form covalent crosslinkages that will lead to stability of the resultant membranes.