Polymeric membranes performance in gas separation can be improved by using zeolites as the filler in the polymer matrix to form mixed matrix membranes (MMMs). Pure-silica Si-CHA zeolite and Pebax-1657 copolymer are individually capable of separating acid gases from natural gas. However, the corresponding MMM has not been investigated in the literature. Therefore, in this work, Si-CHA zeolite was incorporated in the Pebax-1657 copolymer by solvent evaporation method to evaluate its performance in CO₂ separation from CH₄. The fillers distribution in the polymeric matrix, structural characteristics, and interaction of fillers with the polymer in MMMs were characterized via SEM, FTIR, DSC, XRD, and stress-strain analyses. Moreover, the CO₂/CH₄ separation tests of the membrane as a function of zeolite content and applied feed pressure was explored. The structural analyses of the membranes showed the best filler distribution and the filler-polymer interaction in the membrane for the sample containing 10 wt% of the filler. Furthermore, pure gas permeation tests revealed that the best separation performance was obtained for the same membrane at an applied gauge pressure of 4 bar. In this membrane, 103% improvement in CO₂ permeability, and 71% increase in CO₂/CH₄ ideal selectivity was achieved compared to the neat polymeric membrane. The separation performance of the MMM 10% was evaluated using CO₂–CH₄ mixed gas. In this situation, decreased CO₂/CH₄ separation factor was observed due to the plasticization of PEO chains with polar CO₂ gas.

通过使用沸石作为聚合物基质中的填料以形成混合基质膜（MMM），可以提高气体分离中的聚合物膜性能。纯硅Si-CHA沸石和Pebax-1657共聚物可以分别从天然气中分离酸性气体。但是，相应的MMM尚未在文献中进行研究。因此，在这项工作中，通过溶剂蒸发法将Si-CHA沸石掺入到Pebax-1657共聚物中，以评估其在从CH ₄分离CO _2中的性能。通过SEM，FTIR，DSC，XRD和应力应变分析来表征聚合物基质中填料的分布，结构特征以及填料与聚合物在MMM中的相互作用。此外，CO ₂ / CH ₄膜的分离测试是沸石含量和施加的进料压力的函数。膜的结构分析表明，对于含有10 wt％填料的样品，膜中的填料分布最佳，且填料与聚合物的相互作用最大。此外，纯气体渗透测试表明，在施加4 bar表压的情况下，同一膜获得了最佳分离性能。与纯净聚合物膜相比，在该膜中，CO ₂渗透性提高了103％，CO ₂ / CH ₄理想选择性提高了71％。使用CO ₂ -CH ₄混合气体评估了MMM 10％的分离性能。在这种情况下，CO减少由于PEO链被极性CO ₂气体增塑，因此观察到了₂ / CH ₄分离因子。