Recent Advances in Gas Separation by Microporous Ceramic Membranes

Book excerpt: This book is dedicated to the rapidly growing field of microporous ceramic membranes with separating layers of pore diameter less than 2nm. The chapters of this book bring forward a wide range of issues, namely fundamentals of complex sorption and transport processes in micropore structures, highly innovative methods of preparation of microporous membranes and examples of their possible commercial applications. This book presents insights by distinguished investigators, who have contributed significantly to the advance of research efforts in the diverse topics described herein. Recently, significant progress has been made with respect to the development of novel microporous asymmetric membranes, mainly involving modification by means of deposition of additional material within the pores of the substrates. Most state-of-the-art technologies aiming in the development of microporous ceramic membrane are presented in the third section of the book. These include several material deposition methods and techniques on macroporous or mesoporous supports and substrates from the liquid or vapour phase, namely those involving sol-gel, zeolite and chemical vapour deposition techniques. In addition to the above-mentioned methods, the classical technique of carbonizing polymeric deposits along with one of the novel techniques of plasma-treating, organically deposited Langmuir-Blodgett films, are also presented. Nanophase mixed ionic-electron membranes for enhanced oxygen transport are described, which pose a strong candidacy for a number of significant commercial applications.