In-air fabrication of crosslinked PEO membrane for carbon capture

• A rapid UV crosslinking of PEO membrane was achieved in air condition. • The membrane microstructure was optimized by changing the casting solution components. • The optimal membrane afforded a CO 2 permeability of 550 Barrer. • The optimized membrane could stably run for over 120 h. Photopolymerization of acrylated poly(ethylene glycol) prepolymers is a facile method for high-efficiency carbon capture membrane fabrication. However, the oxygen intolerance of the free radical reaction demands oxygen-free condition for membrane fabrication, which hampers the potential scale-up membrane manufacture. In this work, a brand new method, called thiol-olefin click reaction coupled high-viscosity solution, was proposed for in-air preparation of crosslinked polyethylene oxides (PEO) membranes. The thiol-olefin click reaction plays the role of consuming the oxygen molecules and high-viscosity solution functions as a barrier to hinder oxygen diffusion. Collaboratively, the active oxygen content can be significantly diminished, rendering the smooth reaction for crosslinked PEO membrane preparation. After optimizing the component of the casting solution, i.e., tailoring the membrane microstructure, the optimal PEO membrane offers a CO 2 permeability of 550 Barrer, with a CO 2 /N 2 selectivity of 52. Moreover, the membrane can stably run for 120 h. Thus, our study provides an innovative approach for convinient and rapid construction of high-performance crosslinked PEO membranes in air.