Gas separation membranes
High temperature separation membrane for gases
Principal investigator: Elisa Mercadelli
Involved personnel: Angela Gondolini, Alessandra Sanson, Alex Sangiorgi, Paola Pinasco
Gas separation membranes are electrochemical devices that allows the separation of specific components contained in gas streams at high temperatures (500-800°C). These systems can be classified on the bases of the materials used as:
- Oxygen separation membranes
- Hydrogen separation membranes
- CO2 separation membranes
These devices are ceramics or ceramic-metallic bilayers constituted of a supporting element and an active layer. Separation membranes are produced at CNR-ISSMC starting from commercial or synthesized powders by tape casting, screen printing or additive manufacturing techniques. Substrates and active layers are developed with different compositions:
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- La0.6Sr0.4Fe0.8Co0.2O3 (LSCF), La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 / Ce0.8Gd0.2O2,(LSM-GDC) for O2 separation;
- NiO/ Ba(Ce,Y,Zr)O3, Ba(YCe)O3, NiO/ Ba(Ce,Y,Zr)O3 and mixture with (Ce,Gd)O2 for H2 separation.
Products with diameter up to 5 cm are obtained after a careful optimization of the suspension and thermal treatment needed to reach a suitable microstructure for the required application.
The as-produced bilayers are generally sintered via co-firing. For this purpose a great attention is given to the sintering behavior of each layer that, even subjected to the same heat treatment, must satisfy two different requirements: a suitable porosity of the supporting element and an high density of the active layer.
Equipment and processes
Tape casting, Screen printing, Additive manufacturing.

Main partners
- Ricerca Sistema Elettrico (RSE S.p.A.)
- Istituto di Chimica della Materia Condensata e di Tecnologie per l’Energia (CNR-ICMATE)
- Universitat Politècnica de València
Projects
Publications
- Mercadelli E, Gondolini A, Montaleone D, Pinasco P, Escolástico S, Serra JM, Sanson A. Production strategies of asymmetric BaCe0.65Zr0.20Y0.15O3-δ – Ce0.8Gd0.2O2-δ membrane for hydrogen separation. Int. J. Hydrog. En. 2019, in press.
- Montaleone D, Mercadelli E, Escolàstico S, Gondolini A, Serra JM, Sanson A. All-ceramic asymmetric membranes with superior hydrogen permeation. J. Mater. Chem. A. 2018; 6:15718.
- D. Montaleone, E. Mercadelli, A. Gondolini, P. Pinasco, A. Sanson “On the compatibility of dual phase BaCe0.65Zr0.2Y0.15O3-based membrane for hydrogen separation application” Ceramics International 43 [13] (2017) 10151-10157.
- E. Mercadelli, D. Montaleone, A. Gondolini, P. Pinasco, A. Sanson “Tape-cast asymmetric membranes for hydrogen separation” Ceramics International 43 [11] (2017) 8010-8017.