Graphene oxide doped ionic liquid ultrathin composite membranes for efficient CO2 capture

Abstract

Advanced membrane systems with high flux and sufficient selectivity are required for industrial gas separation processes. In order to achieve high flux and high selectivity, the membrane material should be as thin as possible and it should have selective sieving channels and long term stability. This could be achieved by designing a three component material consisting of a blend of an ionic liquid and graphene oxide covered by a highly permeable low selective polymeric coating. By using a simple dip coating technique, we prepared high flux and CO₂ selective ultrathin graphene oxide (GO)/ionic liquid membranes on a porous ultrafiltration support. The ultrathin composite membranes derived from GO/ionic liquid complex displays remarkable combinations of permeability (CO₂ flux: 37 GPU) and selectivity (CO₂/N₂ selectivity: 130) that surpass the upper bound of ionic liquid membranes for CO₂/N₂ separation. Moreover, the membranes were stable when tested for 120 hours.