Saba Raveshiyan - Membrane Science and Technology Research Group, Department of Chemical Engineering Tarbiat Modares University, Jalal-Ale-Ahmad, Tehran, Iran
Seyed Saeid Hosseini - Nanotechnology and Water Sustainability Research Unit, College of Science, Engineering and Technology, University of South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa
Javad Karimi-Sabet - Material and Nuclear Fuel Research School (MNFRS), Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute (NSTRI), Tehran, Iran

In this research, magnetic mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) containing 3 wt.% neodymium (Nd) are prepared for oxygen/nitrogen separation. To create preferential permeation pathways for oxygen molecules across the MMMs, the membrane preparation is conducted under an external magnetic field (MF) and the required magnetic force to arrange the particle dispersion in a polymer matrix is determined with the aid of ANSYS Maxwell software. Optical microscope images reveal that Nd particles are aligned in the membrane matrix according to the direction of applied MF. The MF-aligned Nd/PSf membranes present higher permeability and lower selectivity than the un-aligned membranes and PSf.

Polysulfone; magnetic mixed matrix membranes; gas separation; Orientation