<![CDATA[The integration of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as fillers in hybrid membranes commonly termed mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) represents a significant advancement in the field of gas separation technology. This present study proposes novel MMMs for the separation of H2, CH4, and CO2. The Material Institute of Lavoisier framework (MIL-53(Al)) was incorporated into a polyethersulfone (PES) matrix at filler loadings of 10%, 20%, and 30% (w/w). IR and SEM analyses confirmed that the irregular MIL-53(Al) particles were uniformly dispersed within the PES matrix. The gas separation performance was evaluated using both single gas feeds (H2, CO2, CH4) and mixed gas feeds (H2/CO2 and CO2/CH4) under 2 bar pressure at 30 °C. In comparison to the pristine PES membrane, the incorporation of MIL-53(Al) considerably enhanced gas permeability, with the 30% MIL-53(Al)@PES membrane demonstrating remarkable single-gas permeation performance. It is also notable that the membrane containing 20% MIL-53(Al) achieved the highest selectivity for H2/CO2 and CO2/CH4 (3.28), representing a 54.72% improvement over the pristine PES membrane. Interestingly, almost all MIL-53(Al)@PES membranes exhibited exceptional H2/CO2 separation performance, exceeding the Robeson upper bound. However, for the H2/CH4 and CO2/CH4 mixed gas separation tests, the selectivity of 1.82 and 0.32, respectively, was observed for the 20% MIL-53(Al) membrane, closely resembling the performance of the pure PES membrane. The present work demonstrates that the integration of MIL-53(Al) into PES is an effective strategy to enhance membrane penetrability and H2/CO2 separation performance, thereby highlighting its potential for the improvement of MOF-based mixed matrix membranes for selective gas separation.]]>
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