Interactions between the Ionic Liquid and the ZrO2 Support in Supported Ionic Liquid Membranes for CO2 Separation

Abstract

This work reports the interaction study of two supported ionic liquid membranes (SILMs) based on 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([C4mim][PF6]) and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([C4mim][BF4]), which were impregnated into porous zirconia supports with 20 nm average pore diameters. The interaction of ionic liquid-support observed from diffuse reflectance (DR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) is reported. The IR spectrum in the 600 to 4000 cm−1 range showed a specific interaction of the ionic liquid with the support. The N2 and CO2 permeances in the SILMs with [C4mim][BF4] were 8.7 × 10−8 mol·s−1·m−2·Pa−1 and 9.6 × 10−7 mol·s−1·m−2·Pa−1, respectively. The separation factor through the ionic liquid in the membrane as a function of temperature showed that the SILMs studied here can be used for CO2 separation at low temperatures