Pressure‐resistant propylene/propane separation by ZIF ‐8 membranes decorated with polyether‐block‐amide copolymer

Abstract ZIF‐8 is an ideal membrane material for C 3 H 6 /C 3 H 8 separation. However, its inherent framework flexibility leads to structural changes under external pressure, impairing the C 3 H 6 /C 3 H 8 separation performance. In this work, ZIF‐8 membranes were decorated with a low‐cost polyether‐block‐amide copolymer, Pebax 2533. The copolymer, containing flexible PTMO segments and rigid PA12 segments, enhanced the rigidity of the ZIF‐8 framework through confinement effects and interfacial interactions. The resultant ZIF‐8 P2533 membranes exhibit excellent pressure‐resistant separation performance. As the transmembrane pressure was increased from 0 to 6 bar, the separation factor increased by 49%, from 152 to 227, while the C 3 H 6 flux reached 2.25 × 10 −3 mol·m −2 ·s −1 , outperforming most currently reported C 3 H 6 /C 3 H 8 separation membranes. This work demonstrates that Pebax 2533 post‐modification significantly enhances the separation stability of ZIF‐8 membranes under high‐pressure conditions, highlighting their potential for practical C 3 H 6 /C 3 H 8 separation, although further enhancement of permeance is still desirable.