PLA Easy Fil – White‐based membranes for CO2 separation

Polymeric membrane technology applied to gas separation is seen as a valuable alternative to conventional systems due to its ease integrability with existing plant, its lower energy consumption, and its flexibility when scaling up. It constitutes a cheaper solution because, in accordance with the principles of process intensification strategy, realized with a reduced number of stages process. In this work, for the first time, a modified polylactic acid‐based polymer (PLA Easy Fil™ – White) was used to synthesize polymeric membranes for use in CO2 separation. This has the further advantage of adopting a biodegradable and non‐toxic material and environmental friendly. Dense symmetric PLA Easy Fil™ – White membranes (average thickness ∼ 27 μm) were prepared and characterized in terms of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier‐transform infrared (FTIR) analyses and in single gas permeation tests to determine their perm‐selectivity at room temperature in the particular field of CO2/CH4 separation as an example of CO2 removal from raw natural gas or biogas. A CO2/CH4 ideal selectivity equal to 285 (corresponding to a CO2 permeability of 70 barrer) was obtained, overcoming the related Robeson's upper bound. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.