title: Hypercrosslinked Additives for Ageless Gas-Separation Membranes.
abstract: The loss of internal pores, a process known as physical aging, inhibits the long-term use of the most promising gas-separation polymers. Previously we reported that a porous aromatic framework (PAF-1) could form a remarkable nanocomposite with gas-separation polymers to stop aging. However, PAF-1 synthesis is very onerous both from a reagent and reaction-condition perspective, making it difficult to scale-up. We now reveal a highly dispersible and scalable additive based on α,α'-dichloro-p-xylene (p-DCX), that inhibits aging more effectively, and crucially almost doubles gas-transport selectivity. These synergistic effects are related to the intimately mixed nanocomposite that is formed though the high dispersibility of p-DCX in the gas-separation polymer. This reduces particle-size effects and the internal free volume is almost unchanged over time. This study shows this inexpensive and scalable polymer additive delivers exceptional gas-transport performance and selectivity.
authors.affiliation: CSIRO, Bag 10, Clayton South, 3169, VIC, Australia. Cherhon.Lau@csiro.au.
authors.forename: Cher Hon
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.affiliation: CSIRO, Bag 10, Clayton South, 3169, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Mulet
authors.affiliation: CSIRO, Bag 10, Clayton South, 3169, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Konstas
authors.affiliation: CSIRO, Bag 10, Clayton South, 3169, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Cara M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Doherty
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry, Bio21 Institute, The University of Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia.
authors.forename: Marc-Antoine
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Sani
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry, Bio21 Institute, The University of Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia.
authors.forename: Frances
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Separovic
authors.affiliation: CSIRO, Bag 10, Clayton South, 3169, VIC, Australia. Matthew.Hill@csiro.au.
authors.forename: Matthew R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.affiliation: CSIRO, Bag 10, Clayton South, 3169, VIC, Australia. Colin.Wood@csiro.au.
authors.forename: Colin D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Wood
keywords: Davankov polymers; gas separation; hypercrosslinked polymers; membranes; physical aging