EFFECTS OF METAL ORGANIC FRAMEWORKS IN POLYETHER BLOCK AMIDE ELASTOMER
Abstract
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are highly porous materials that find extensive applications in gas absorption and separation in recent years. These hybrid materials can be designed with specific pore sizes and voids to selectively filter gases. PEBAX (MV 1074) is a commercially available polyether block amide copolymer generally used in gas separation applications. In this study, we characterize two different MOFs by means of a dispersion study and create a medium for them to be evenly dispersed into the aforementioned copolymer matrix. Polymer composite fibers are extruded using a twin-screw extruder and a winding unit at pre-determined parameters for winding speed and torque. These composite fibers are then tested for their tensile strength and gas absorptivity and compared to the neat fibers to evaluate the effects these MOFs have in the copolymer matrix.