Development of Zeolite Membrane Products in a Thin Sheet Form

Developing low-cost zeolite membranes is important for a range of industrial applications. In this presentation, design principles and preparation methods of zeolite membranes in a thin-sheet form will be introduced. A zeolite membrane layer is directly grown on a flexible, 50µm-thin metal support sheet with strong adhesion and without defects. The resulting zeolite membrane sheet has mechanical flexibility and strength like a thin metal sheet. The new membrane product development will be elaborated with NaA-type, MFI-type, and Faujasite-type zeolite frameworks – the three commonly-used zeolite materials. Characterization results of micro-structures and molecular sieving functions will be discussed. These thin zeolite membrane sheets show excellent gas and molecular separation performances, such as air dehumidification, alcohol dehydration, CO₂ separation, and ethanol enrichment. The thin membrane sheet makes it possible to achieve low-cost, high throughput production and to make zeolite membrane modules of membrane area packing density comparable to polymeric membrane sheets.