Issue 27, 2022

Molecular simulation of enhanced separation of humid air components using GO–PVA nanocomposite membranes under differential pressures

Abstract

Hydrophilic nanocomposite membranes have significant advantages in the separation of water vapor which is the core process in air dehumidification. This paper focuses on exploring the micro-mechanism of enhanced separation using graphene oxide–polyvinyl alcohol (GO–PVA) nanocomposite membranes. The sorption and diffusion behaviors of water vapor and nitrogen in GO–PVA membranes were investigated using molecular dynamics (MD) and Monte Carlo (MC) methods. The study showed that embedding GO into a PVA matrix results in a higher glass transition temperature and fractional free volume. The latter is believed to enhance the diffusivity of gas molecules in polymeric membranes. The interaction between the polymer chains and GO nanoparticles notably promotes the adsorption capacity of water vapor and inhibits nitrogen adsorption in the membrane. A water vapor permeance of 8844.07 Barrer and a separation factor of 3.53 could be achieved with the GO–PVA-0.5 membrane. The analysis confirmed that GO has the same effect on single gas and binary gas mixtures, i.e., increasing the water vapor permeability and selectivity. The calculated water vapor permeance of binary gas is 83% lower than that of single gas permeation. It is expected that this research could provide fundamentals for the optimization and synthesis of gas separation membranes.

Graphical abstract: Molecular simulation of enhanced separation of humid air components using GO–PVA nanocomposite membranes under differential pressures

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
25 Mar 2022
Accepted
31 May 2022
First published
16 Jun 2022

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2022,24, 16442-16452

Molecular simulation of enhanced separation of humid air components using GO–PVA nanocomposite membranes under differential pressures

Y. Liu, J. Su, F. Duan, X. Cui, W. Yan and L. Jin, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2022, 24, 16442 DOI: 10.1039/D2CP01411D

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements