Functionalized copolyimide membranes for the separation of gaseous and liquid mixtures

Functionalized copolyimides continue to attract much attention as membrane materials because they can fulfill the demands for industrial applications. Thus not only good separation characteristics but also high temperature stability and chemical resistance are required. Furthermore, it is very important that membrane materials are resistant to plasticization since it has been shown that this phenomenon leads to a significant increase in permeability with a dramatic loss in selectivity. Plasticization effects occur with most polymer membranes at high CO₂ concentrations and pressures, respectively. Plasticization effects are also observed with higher hydrocarbons such as propylene, propane, aromatics or sulfur containing aromatics. Unfortunately, these components are present in mixtures of high commercial relevance and can be separated economically by single membrane units or hybrid processes where conventional separation units are combined with membrane-based processes. In this paper the advantages of carboxy group containing 6FDA (4,4'-hexafluoroisopropylidene diphthalic anhydride) -copolyimides are discussed based on the experimental results for non cross-linked, ionically and covalently cross-linked membrane materials with respect to the separation of olefins/paraffins, e.g. propylene/propane, aromatic/aliphatic separation e.g. benzene/cyclohexane as well as high pressure gas separations, e.g. CO₂/CH₄ mixtures. In addition, opportunities for implementing the membrane units in conventional separation processes are discussed.