@article{10902/21007,
year = {2021},
month = {2},
url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10902/21007},
abstract = {Membrane technology can play a very influential role in the separation of the constituents of HFC refrigerant gas mixtures, which usually exhibit azeotropic or near-azeotropic behavior, with the goal of promoting the reuse of value-added compounds in the manufacture of new low-global warming potential (GWP) refrigerant mixtures that abide by the current F-gases regulations. In this context, the selective recovery of difluorometane (R32, GWP = 677) from the commercial blend R410A (GWP = 1924), an equimass mixture of R32 and pentafluoroethane (R125, GWP = 3170), is sought. To that end, this work explores for the first time the separation performance of novel mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) functionalized with ioNanofluids (IoNFs) consisting in a stable suspension of exfoliated graphene nanoplatelets (xGnP) into a fluorinated ionic liquid (FIL), 1-ethyl-3-methylpyridinium perfluorobutanesulfonate ([C2C1py][C4F9SO3]). The results show that the presence of IoNF in the MMMs significantly enhances gas permeation, yet at the expense of slightly decreasing the selectivity of the base polymer. The best results were obtained with the MMM containing 40 wt% IoNF, which led to an improved permeability of the gas of interest (PR32 = 496 barrer) with respect to that of the neat polymer (PR32 = 279 barrer) with a mixed-gas separation factor of 3.0 at the highest feed R410A pressure tested. Overall, the newly fabricated IoNF-MMMs allowed the separation of the near-azeotropic R410A mixture to recover the low-GWP R32 gas, which is of great interest for the circular economy of the refrigeration sector.},
organization = {This research was funded by KET4F-Gas-SOE2/P1/P0823, which is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund within the framework of Interreg Sudoe Programme and project PID2019-105827RB-I00–Agencia Estatal de Investigación. Spain. F.P acknowledges the postdoctoral fellowship (FJCI-2017-32884 Juan de la Cierva Formación) awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities. This work was also supported by the Associate Laboratory for Green Chemistry LAQV (financed by national funds from FCT/MCTES, UIDB/50006/2020).},
publisher = {MDPI},
publisher = {Nanomaterials, 2021, 11(3), 582},
title = {Integration of stable ionic liquid-based nanofluids into polymer membranes. Part II: Gas separation properties toward fluorinated greenhouse gases},
author = {Pardo Pardo, Fernando and Gutiérrez Hernández, Sergio Valentín and Hermida Merino, Carolina and Mendes de Araújo, João Miguel and Martínez Piñeiro, Manuel and Pereiro Estévez, Ana Belén and Zarca Lago, Gabriel and Urtiaga Mendia, Ana María},
}