Send Orders for Reprints to reprints@benthamscience.ae 126 The Open Fuels & Energy Science Journal, 2016, 9, 126-136 1876-973X/16 2016 Bentham Open The Open Fuels & Energy Science Journal Content list available at: www.benthamopen.com/TOEFJ/ DOI: 10.2174/1876973X01609010126 RESEARCH ARTICLE Characterization of a Polymeric Membrane for the Separation of Hydrogen in a Mixture with CO 2 Dionisio H. Malagón-Romero 1,* , Alexander Ladino 2 , Nataly Ortiz 1 and Liliana P. Green 1 1 Semillero de Energía y Termofluidos, GEAMEC Research Group, Universidad Santo Tomas, Bogotá D.C., Colombia 2 Research Group of Fatigue and Surfaces, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia Received: July 05, 2016 Revised: November 09, 2016 Accepted: November 09, 2016 Abstract: Hydrogen is expected to play an important role as a clean, reliable and renewable energy source. A key challenge is the production of hydrogen in an economically and environmentally sustainable way on an industrial scale. One promising method of hydrogen production is via biological processes using agricultural resources, where the hydrogen is found to be mixed with other gases, such as carbon dioxide. Thus, to separate hydrogen from the mixture, it is challenging to implement and evaluate a simple, low cost, reliable and efficient separation process. So, the aim of this work was to develop a polymeric membrane for hydrogen separation. The developed membranes were made of polysulfone via phase inversion by a controlled evaporation method with 5 wt % and 10 wt % of polysulfone resulting in thicknesses of 132 and 239 micrometers, respectively. Membrane characterization was performed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and ASTM D882 tensile test. Performance was characterized using a 2 3 factorial experiment using the time lag method, comparing the results with those from gas chromatography (GC). As a result, developed membranes exhibited dense microstructures, low values of RMS roughness, and glass transition temperatures of approximately 191.75 °C and 190.43 °C for the 5 wt % and 10 wt % membranes, respectively. Performance results for the given membranes showed a hydrogen selectivity of 8.20 for an evaluated gas mixture 54% hydrogen and 46% carbon dioxide. According to selectivity achieved, H 2 separation from carbon dioxide is feasible with possibilities of scalability. These results are important for consolidating hydrogen production from biological processes. Keywords: Hydrogen separation, Phase inversion precipitation, Polymeric membranes, Biofuels, Renewable energy, Biohydrogen. 1. INTRODUCTION To ensure energy sustainability in the long term, several scientific and industrial communities worldwide have been researching new energy possibilities with the aim of developing new, efficient, economical, and sustainable energy conversion processes. Among the different candidates, one of the most promising is the hydrogen which is an energy carrier, which has a heating value about 2.75 times greater than that of liquid hydrocarbon fuels gravimetrically, with only water vapor as the combustion product. The key issue in using hydrogen is associated with production and storage costs [ 1]. In fact, current production methods have low efficiencies and are not economically feasible in satisfying the current and future needs of hydrogen- based energy as a substitute for fossil fuels [2]. At present, hydrogen represents a market of nearly US$ 50 billion with a 40 Mt annual production [2], showing a growth rate of approximately 10% per year [3]. Due to these factors involved in energy production, research focused on hydrogen production is important to reduce the costs and obtain more efficient processes. Hydrogen has been traditionally produced via chemical processes, such as non-catalytic partial oxidation of fuels, hydrocarbon reforming with steam water, selective oxidation of methane and oxidative dehydration and electrochemical processes [2, 4]. However, in the last few years, hydrogen production has been focused on biological * Address correspondence to this author at the Semillero de Energía y Termofluidos, GEAMEC Research Group, Universidad Santo Tomas Cr 9 No 51-11, Bogotá D.C., Colombia; Tel: 57-3012026284; E-mail: dionisiomalagon@usantotomas.edu.co