Copolymerization with macrocyclic compound to prepare high-selectivity PIM-1-based carbon capture membranes

Excessive carbon emission leads to global warming, threatening human survival. Membrane-based carbon capture technology is an important component of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technology and one of the main upstream technologies for achieving carbon neutrality. PIM-1 materials exhibit high CO2 permeability but lower CO2/N2 selectivity, making it a significant focus to improve CO2/N2 selectivity without sacrificing CO2 permeability. In this work, Noria was introduced as a block through the bottom-up approach into the PIM-1 molecular chain, forming Noria-based porous organic polymer (NPOP) microregions with excellent CO2 affinity. Additionally, the presence of NPOP increases the interchain gaps, resulting in a higher free volume. Consequently, the separation membrane prepared under optimal conditions broke the 2008 upper bound, with a 43.6 % increase in CO2 permeability and a 41.7 % increase in CO2/N2 selectivity. Furthermore, NPOP could form colloidal networks and provide rigidity to the separation membrane, endowing it with excellent aging resistance. After 6 months of aging, the CO2 permeability of 0.5 %Noria decreased by only 33.4 % (67.4 % for pure PIM-1), indicating its strong potential for widespread applications.