Carbon molecular sieve (CMS) membranes were synthesized by the pyrolysis of polymeric precursors. The CMS materials had oxygen-nitrogen selectivities much higher than those observed for the polymeric precursors. Typically molecular sieving materials have diffusion selectivities much higher than polymeric materials. This has been identified as a result of higher entropic selectivity of the molecular sieving materials. A study of the development of molecular sieving properties as the polymeric precursor is pyrolyzed into a CMS material will offer us an insight into polymeric molecular structures needed for enhanced entropic selectivity membrane materials.

• Singh Anshu(Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, U. S. A.)
• Koros W.J.(Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, U. S. A.)