La0.8Sr0.2Cr0.5Fe0.5O3−δ (LSCF)–Zr0.8Y0.2O2−δ (YSZ) based multilayer membrane for CO2 decomposition

A La0.8Sr0.2Cr0.5Fe0.5O3−δ (LSCF)–Zr0.8Y0.2O2−δ (YSZ) based multilayer membrane was fabricated by a combination of dual-layer phase inversion tape casting, slurry coating and co-sintering. LSCF–YSZ was adopted as the oxygen separation layer. A porous YSZ substrate with a continuous transitional finger-like pore structure was prepared, and a LSCF–YSZ active layer with a fine sponge-like pore structure was introduced between the functional LSCF–YSZ oxygen separation layer and YSZ substrate. The asymmetric membrane exhibits good chemical stability and acceptable oxygen permeation under stringent conditions. An oxygen permeation flux of 0.041, 0.068 and 0.15 ml(STP)cm−2 min−1 was gained at 900 °C for operation under air/argon, CO2/CH4 and CO2/H2 gradient, respectively. The apparent activation energy for oxygen permeation was 175.61±18.45, 97.21±2.94 and 79.41±6.26 kJ/mol under air/argon, CO2/CH4 and CO2/H2 gradients respectively. The preliminary results show that the membrane may be promising for applications in the recycling of CO2 and treatment of hydrocarbons.