Elevated h2/n2 separation performance by annealing post-treatment of polysulfone hollow fiber membrane

This study aims to enhance the H2/N2 separation performance of polysulfone (PSF) hollow fiber membranes by annealing. X-ray diffraction, SEM, and FESEM were utilized to evaluate morphological and structural changes in denser annealed PSF membranes. AFM topography images were used to investigate the annealed form and roughness of PSF membranes. Before testing membrane permeation, it was annealed at 120, 150, and 190 °C to optimize gas separation performance. Compare to all annealing temperatures (120, 150, and 190 °C), the annealed PSF membrane at 150 °C had the greatest H2/N2 selectivity (16.18), but its separation performance was unsatisfactory since it was below the Robeson upper limit curve. The PSF before annealing and the PSF annealed at 190 °C showed outstanding separation performance (2.60 and 2.71, respectively), despite their lower selectivity than the PSF annealed at 150 °C