UV-irradiation assisted functionalization and binding of Pd nanoparticles in polycarbonate membranes for hydrogen separation.

For hydrogen-based energy systems development, purified hydrogen (H2) is a basic requirement and it can be achieved by using the H2-selective membranes. For having H2-selective membranes, it is a decent approach to embed the H2-sensitive materials in the polymeric membranes. Palladium (Pd) is one of the widely used materials for hydrogen-selective membranes due to its strong affinity towards H2 absorption. In the present work, we have used Pd nanoparticles in UV-functionalized track-etched polycarbonate (PC) membranes for better selectivity and permeability of H2 gas. In the UV-irradiation process of membranes, the photo-fries mechanism leads to the C-O bond breaking from the carbonate group of PC molecules and as a result, there is a high number of bond breaking. This phenomenon provides the more active sites for the attachment of Pd nanoparticles in comparison with the pristine PC membrane. The gas permeability of these membranes suggests that the selectivity of H2 over nitrogen (N2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) is increased by the addition of uniformly distributed Pd nanoparticles in the functionalized membranes.