Effect of Polymer Concentration on the Structure and Performance of Polysulfone Flat Membrane for CO2 Absorption in Membrane Contactor

In this study, polysulfone (PSF) flat membrane prepared via non-solvent phase inversion method was employed in gas-liquid membrane contactor module to absorb CO2. Two polymer concentrations of 16 wt% and 18 wt% were used in the dope solution of fabricated membranes. The membranes were characterized in terms of morphological structure and contact angle. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis demonstrated that PSF membrane with polymer concentration of 16 wt% in the dope solution has a porous layer with a combination of finger-like, sponge-like and macrovoid structures, but the other membrane has a sponge-like structure. Also, characterization results through atomic force microscopy (AFM) and contact angle measurement demonstrated that the porosity, surface roughness and hydrophobicity of the PSF membranes decreased with an increase in polymer concentration. Evaluation of mass transfer resistance displayed that the resistance of the PSF membrane with polymer concentration of 18wt% in the dope solution is higher than that of the other membrane. In addition, decreasing the polymer concentration significantly improved CO2 absorption flux. At the absorbent flow rate of 9.7 ml/min, the CO2 absorption flux of PSF membrane with 16 wt% polymer concentration was 2.17 times higher than the absorption flux of the PSF with 18 wt% polymer concentration.