Advanced polymeric membranes for CO2 separation: fundamentals, materials, and practical challenges.

Unofficial AI-generated summary based on the public title and abstract. Not an official translation.

🔬研究者:Researchers in membrane science will find a structured overview of TR polymers, PIMs, and CO2-philic polymers, along with trade-offs and future directions.

🏢実務担当者:Practitioners in energy and chemical industries can gain insights into membrane performance for specific applications like natural gas sweetening and blue hydrogen purification.

Membrane-based CO2 separation is emerging as a central technology for achieving carbon neutrality, yet its widespread deployment remains constrained by longstanding trade-offs among permeability, selectivity, long-term stability, and scalability. This review provides the conceptual foundations, materials evolution, and market drivers shaping the next generation of polymeric CO2 separation membranes. We first revisit the fundamentals of mass transport through dense polymer films and highlight how trade-offs arise from the interplay among solubility, diffusivity, and free-volume architecture. Building on this framework, we examine three major materials platforms that have redefined performance boundaries: thermally rearranged (TR) polymers that generate controlled microporosity through in situ cyclization; polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIMs) that embody rigid, contorted backbones with permanent ultramicroporosity; and ether-rich CO2-philic polymers that achieve high solubility selectivity and excellent processability. By integrating molecular-level insights with thin-film engineering considerations, we evaluate each material family's potential and limitations in realistic process environments. At the system level, we analyze global markets, including natural gas sweetening, post-combustion CO2 capture, blue hydrogen purification, and biogas upgrading, where polymeric membranes are poised for rapid growth. Finally, we identify future research directions centered on stabilizing free volume, suppressing plasticization, enhancing thin-film robustness, and accelerating materials-to-module translation through digital design and advanced fabrication. Together, these strategies delineate a pathway for polymeric membranes to become scalable, energy-efficient tools for industrial CO2 management in the coming decade.

• semanticscholar https://doi.org/10.1039/d5mh02360bfirst seen 2026-05-06 00:15:29