Increased CO₂/N₂ selectivity of PTMSP by surface crosslinking

The surface crosslinking of poly[1-(trimethylsilyl)-1-propyne] (PTMSP) membranes by dithiothreitol under thiol-ene click reaction conditions has yielded membranes having CO₂/N₂ selectivities in excess of 30 with CO₂ permeances in excess of 300 GPU (gas permeation units). The simplicity of this surface crosslinking strategy together with these permeation results suggests that PTMSP that is modified in such ways could lead to useful materials for the separation of CO₂/N₂ from flue gas and for certain other gaseous mixtures.