Until very recently it was widely assumed that permeability and selectivity of separation membranes were invariably coupled, and that one could only be increased at the expense of the other. New findings, however, demonstrate that both may be increased simultaneously by controlling micropore size and rigidity and barrier layer anisotropicity.

Polymeric Gas Separation Membranes explains how this decoupling took place. In doing so it provides an up-to-date qualitative treatment of the relationship between structure and function in polymeric gas separation membranes; acquaints the reader with the most important commercial polymers, membranes, manufacturing processes, membrane configurations, and packaging; and explains how polymeric membranes are applied to specific gas separations.

Supplemented with over 200 helpful illustrations, this book offers an exposition of the chemical natures of hypothetical black box membranes and those of specific polymers. Chemical structure at the functional group level is considered as the synthesis of steric and polar factors.

An extensive section on physical structure includes the authors' major contribution to the field, the integrally skinned trilayer known commercially as "Prism Alpha." Treatment of membrane fabrication processes includes the important phase inversion process with its dry, wet, and thermal variations as well as an exposition of the nucleation and growth mechanism for membrane formation in light of recent discoveries.

Also treated are membrane configurations (hollow fiber versus flat sheet), packaging (tube-in-shell, plate and frame), engineering/system design, and commercial applications, including several hybrid systems in which various membrane processes are combined with one another or with some other separation mode.

For professionals, researchers, and graduate students in polymer science, organic chemistry, physical chemistry, biotechnology, and chemical engineering, this critical evaluation of the present state of the art will be of immense help in gaining a theoretical understanding of the subject and applying that knowledge in practical situations. It will also be of value to business and marketing professionals who wish to keep abreast of the rapidly evolving separations field.