Polymeric Membranes for Energy Applications

Abstract

The volatile and escalating oil prices, combined with the environmental consequences of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions, have led to the growing interest in the development of alternative energy sources. The world energy consumption continues to be at the core of the climate change debate and the use of natural gas and fossil‐derived hydrogen is recommended to alleviate global warming. In the long run, biofuel represents an important renewable resource for attaining energy sustainability. Membrane technology is a promising separation technique for natural gas, hydrogen, and biofuel purifications. Polymeric membranes remain the most viable commercial choice and substantial research works on the design of polymers with improved separation performance and physicochemical properties are in progress. Various approaches have been utilized by membrane scientists to overcome the bottlenecks and to achieve this goal. In this review, a critical survey on polymeric membranes for gas separation and pervaporation in energy‐related applications is presented. The merits and deficiencies of existing polymeric membrane are evaluated. The vital aspects of membrane process design and the future prospects of membrane‐based separations are highlighted.