SBIR Phase I: New Synthetic Approaches to Higher Performance, Lower Cost CO2/CH4 Gas Separation Membranes

该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目描述了利用全氟环丁基（PFCB）聚合物平台技术的创新合成方法，以创造具有商业吸引力的膜材料，用于从天然气中去除CO2。这些新的气体膜技术聚合物结构将通过优异的CO2/甲烷分离性能与在操作期间抵抗烃的塑化和/或链段间填充的能力相结合而与当前的商业产品区分开。我们的专有研究目标包括合成具有独特刚性骨架的新型PFCB结构、新功能、交联应用、纳米复合材料和增加氟含量。强大的社会和商业影响来自这样一个事实，即天然气目前提供了美国使用的所有一次能源的五分之一以上，并且17%的国内天然气必须在运输前进行处理以去除二氧化碳。膜市场本身现在超过2亿美元，由于竞争过程主要涉及昂贵的能源密集型相变，而膜不涉及，预计该市场将在未来几年增长。成功的结果将很容易转移到其他高价值的烃分离，如丙烷/丙烯

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project describes innovative synthetic approaches utilizing perfluorocyclobutyl (PFCB) polymer platform technology to create commercially attractive membrane materials for removal of CO2 from natural gas. These new to the gas membrane art polymer structures will be differentiated from current commercial products through excellent CO2/methane separation performance combined with the ability to resist the plasticization and/or intersegmental packing by hydrocarbons during operation. Our proprietary research objectives involve synthesizing new PFCB structures having unique rigid backbones, new functionalities, application of crosslinking, nanocomposites, and increasing fluorine content. Strong societal and commercial impact comes from the fact that natural gas currently provides more than one-fifth of all primary energy used in the United States and 17% of all domestic raw natural gas must be treated to remove carbon dioxide before transportation. The membrane market itself is now over $200 million, and since competing processes largely involve expensive energy intensive phase changes and membranes do not, this market is expected to grow in the coming years. Successful results will be readily transferable to other high value hydrocarbon separations, such as propane/propylene