Preparation of a PVA/Chitosan/Glass Fiber Composite Membrane and the Performance in CO₂ Separation

In this study, a novel composite membrane was developed by casting the mixed aqueous solution of chitosan (CS) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) on a glass fiber microporous membrane. The polymeric coating of a composite membrane containing amino groups and hydroxyl groups has a favorable CO₂ affinity and provides an enhanced CO₂ transport mechanism, thereby improving the permeance and selectivity of CO₂. A series of tests for the composite membranes were taken to characterize the chemical structure, morphology, strength, and gas separation properties. ATR-FTIR spectra showed that the chemical structure and functional group of the polymer coating had no obvious change after the heat treatment under 180 °C, while SEM results showed that the composite membranes had a dense surface. The gas permeance and selectivity of the composite membrane were tested using single gases. The results showed that the addition of chitosan can increase the CO₂ permeance which could reach 233 GPU. After a wetting treatment, the CO₂ permeance (454 GPU) and gas selectivity (17.71) were higher than that of dry membranes because moisture promotes the composite membrane transmission. After a heat treatment, the permeance of N₂ decreased more significantly than that of CO₂, which led to an increase in CO₂/N₂ selectivity (10.0).