Physical and Gas Transport Properties of Hyperbranched Polyimide-Silica Hybrid Membranes

Physical and Gas Transport Properties of Hyperbranched Polyimide-Silica Hybrid Membranes 

Tomoyuki Suzuki, Yasuharu Yamada, Jun Sakai and Kami Itahashi Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Matsugasaki, 

Membrane Gas Separation Edited by Yuri Yampolskii and Benny Freeman 2010 John Wiley Sons, Ltd 

In this paper, physical and gas transport properties of HBPIs synthesized with various dianhydride monomers and their silica hybrid membranes prepared by sol-gel reaction with two kinds of alkoxysilanes, TMOS and methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS), individually or simultaneously, are discussed. The methyl group of MTMS will prevent the formation of robust three-dimensional Si-O-Si network in the hybrid membranes. It is expected that the loose Si-O-Si network formed from MTMS induces unique physical and gas transport properties of the hybrid membranes. 

3 mmol of dianhydride (6FDA, PMDA, and ODPA) was dissolved in 40 mL of DMAc in a lOOmL three-neck flask under N2 flow at room temperature. To this solution, 1.6mmol of TAPOB in 20 mL of DMAc was added dropwise through a syringe with stirring for 3h. After that 0.4 mmol of APTrMOS was added in the reaction mixture with stirring for 1 h to afford hyperbranched polyamic acid. 

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