Novel aryl carbonate cyanoaryl ether gas separation membranes

Claim 1

A semi-permeable gas separation membrane comprising a thin discriminating layer of an uncross-linked or cross-linked aryl carbonate cyanoaryl ether copolymer possessing a polymer backbone structure corresponding to the formula: ##STR6## wherein Ar 1 and Ar 2 are each individually a divalent aromatic residue selected from the group consisting of: A. an unsubstituted or inertly substituted phenylene, unsubstituted or inertly substituted naphthylene; B. ##STR7## wherein L is selected from the group consisting of a direct bond, a divalent C 1-15 hydrocarbyl radical, a divalent C 1-8 halohydrocarbyl radical, --O--, --CO--, --S--, --SO--, --SO 2 --, and --SS--, X is individually in each occurrence selected from the group consisting of a hydrogen radical, a monovalent C 1-4 hydrocarbyl radical, a C 1-4 halohydrocarbyl radical, and a halogen, and m is an integer between 1 and 4 inclusive; and C. a divalent bisphenyl fluorenyl or spiro indanyl radical; R is individually in each occurrence selected from the group consisting of a hydrogen radical, a monovalent C 1-4 hydrocarbyl radical, a C 1-4 halohydrocarbyl radical, and a halogen, and q is a positive integer between 1 and 3 inclusive; s is a positive integer between about 1 and about 250 inclusive x is a positive integer between about 0 and about 250 inclusive, and y is a positive integer between about 1 and about 500 inclusive, wherein the ratio of y/(x+y) is between about 0.25 and 1 inclusive: and n is a positive integer representing a degree of polymerization which provides a number-average molecular weight of at least about 4,000.