Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Membrane Science journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/memsci Enhanced gas separation performance using mixed matrix membranes containing zeolite T and 6FDA-durene polyimide Norwahyu Jusoh, Yin Fong Yeong ⁎ , Kok Keong Lau, Azmi M. Shariff Chemical Engineering Department, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, 32610 Bandar Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Zeolite T 6FDA-durene Mixed matrix membrane CO 2 /CH 4 separation ABSTRACT In the recent years, zeolite T has been demonstrated as a potential materials for adsorption, catalysis, pervaporation as well as gaseous separation processes. However, the reported literature on the application of zeolite T as inorganic filler for the fabrication of mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) in CO 2 /CH 4 separation is not available. Therefore, in the present work, different loadings of zeolite T particles are embedded in 6FDA- durene polyimide. The morphology and structural properties of the resultant membranes were investigated using different analytical tools and the performance of the membranes in CO 2 and CH 4 gases separation were tested. The results showed that CO 2 permeability of 843.6 Barrer and CO 2 /CH 4 ideal selectivity of 19.1 were obtained using 1 wt% loaded zeolite T/6FDA-durene MMM, which were 80% and 172% higher than the CO 2 permeability and CO 2 /CH 4 ideal selectivity attained using pristine 6FDA-durene. Besides, the membrane showed improvement in CO 2 plasticization resistant up to 20 bar as compared to pristine 6FDA-durene membrane, which showed only 5 bar. Overall, zeolite T/6FDA-durene mixed matrix membranes fabricated in this work exhibited significant enhancement in CO 2 /CH 4 separation, which makes them an attractive candidate for industrial gas separation especially for natural gas purification. 1. Introduction A recent alarming event in the international energy market has directed towards the growing tension of other energy sources such as natural gas in order to meet the demand of the global energy consumption. The purification of natural gas is traditionally attained by absorption, adsorption and cryogenic technologies [1]. However, these methods are limited in the context of space and weight require- ment, energy consumption and environmental issues. Therefore, membrane separation has been considered as a potential alternative to clean natural gas since it reduces both capital and operating cost, enhances weight and space efficiency and more environmental friendly [2–4]. The first-generation of membrane for CO 2 separation has been commercialized in 1983 by utilizing polymeric membrane [5]. Even though the polymeric membrane offers cost benefit and easy to fabricate, it suffers from several drawbacks such as performance restriction, plasticization and structure instability under harsh operat- ing conditions [6]. Following early studies of polymeric membrane, inorganic membrane was developed for gas separation, mainly for high temperature application. Nevertheless, the fabrication of inorganic membrane is challenging and usually involves higher cost [7,8]. Therefore, mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) which combine the superior performance of inorganic filler with the polymeric matrix were developed in order to enhance the separation properties of the membranes. In fact, the selection of polymer material as a continuous phase is also important to ensure a good compatibility and good adhesion between the polymer and dispersed filler which can conse- quently improve the separation performance of the resultant MMM. Research efforts in using varieties of polyimides including Matrimid and Ultem as a continuous phase in MMM formation have been growing steadily because of their favorable physicomechanical and chemical properties [9,10]. Current trends demonstrate that 6FDA- based polyimide is a potential candidate for the fabrication of MMM due to its impressive separation performance. Chen et al. [11], reported the improvement of CO 2 /CH 4 selectivity from 50 to 77 after incorpor- ating 32 wt% of MIL-53 in 6FDA-ODA membrane. Later, Zornoza et al. [12] incorporated MCM-41 into 6FDA-DAM polymer for gaseous separation. They reported that enhanced improvement of H 2 /CH 4 , CO 2 /CH 4 ,O 2 /N 2 and CO 2 /N 2 selectivity up to 21%, 14%, 20% and 15%, respectively, was achieved when 8 wt% of MCM-41 particles were loaded in the polymer. Among the 6FDA-based polyimides, 6FDA-durene has attracted various researchers due to its excellent gas separation performance as http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2016.10.044 Received 1 August 2016; Received in revised form 17 October 2016; Accepted 18 October 2016 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: yinfong.yeong@petronas.com.my (Y.F. Yeong). Journal of Membrane Science xx (xxxx) xxxx–xxxx 0376-7388/ © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Available online xxxx Please cite this article as: Jusoh, N., Journal of Membrane Science (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2016.10.044