Study of the Gas Separation Properties of ABS/PVAc Novel Blend Membrane

CO2 separation has been more considered for its emission control in off-gas and flue gases, upgrading of natural gas, landfill gas recovery and enhanced oil recovery. In this field, here, novel membranes from the blending Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene (ABS) with Poly(Vinyl Acetate) (PVAc) were prepared. Then, the effect of various PVAc contents incorporated into polymer matrix on the permeation of CO2, CH4 and N2 were investigated. The results showed that the highest CO2 permeability arises in 10% PVAc content. The highest CO2 /CH4 selectivity in 20% PVAc content is 29 and for CO2/N2 in 30% PVAc content is 40.41. A combination of the effects of PVAc polar acetate groups, compression of membrane structure in the present of high molecular weight PVAc, acrylonitrile and flexible butadiene blocks in ABS have caused these occurrences. Furthermore, investigation of the pressure effect on permeability in the range of 2-8 bars has shown no considerable effect on the permeability data with pressure changes. Generally, the prepared membranes can be taken into account as a better membrane for CO2 /N2 separation than CO2 /CH4.