Cross-linked polyarylene oxide membranes

Claim 1

A process for separating at least one gas in a gaseous mixture from at least one other gas in said gaseous mixture by selective permeation and providing a permeating product containing at least one permeating gas, comprising: contacting the gaseous mixture with one side of a gas separation membrane having a asymmetric wall structure with a thin dense skin, said skin having pores, and said membrane having a coating in occluding contact with the pores of the thin dense skin, which with respect to at least one pair of gases of said gaseous mixture, the gas separation membrane exhibits selective permeation of one gas of said pair of gases over that of the remaining gases, the gas separation membrane is comprised of a covalently bonded cross-linked polymer of a polyarylene oxide precursor of 2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide having substituent groups selected from the group consisting of benzylic halogen at from 0.01 to 2.0 halogen atoms per phenylene oxide unit, halogenated acetyl at from 0.01 to 1.0 halogenated acetyl groups per phenylene oxide unit and halogenated propionyl at from 0.01 and 1.0 halogenated propionyl groups per phenylene oxide unit; and a chemical cross-linking agent selected from the group consisting of ammonia and aqueous solution of ammonia hydroxide; maintaining the opposite surface of the gas separation membrane at a lower chemical potential for said at least one permeating gas permeating said at least one permeating gas into and through the gas separation membrane; and removing from the vicinity of said opposite surface a permeated product having a different portion of said at least one gas.