Modeling permeation through anisotropic zeolite membranes with nanoscopic defects

We have modeled permeation through anisotropic zeolite membranes with nanoscopic defects that create shortcuts perpendicular to the transmembrane direction (x). We have found that the dimensionless ratio D-y(k(d)Deltay) can be used to estimate whether the shortcuts contribute significantly to the overall flux. Here D-y is the diffusion coefficient for motion in the plane of the membrane, k(d) is the rate of desorbing into defect voids, and Deltay is the spacing between adjacent defects, For values of D-y/(k(d)Deltav) much greater than 1, we find that shortcuts increase the flux by significant amounts. The magnitude of the flux is increased as the imperfection spacing Deltay is decreased. For small values of Deltay, permeation through shortcuts becomes sorption-limited so that decreasing Deltay further does not increase the flux through a single shortcut, However, as ay is decreased, the concentration of shortcuts increases, thereby increasing the total contribution of the shortcuts to the flux. We have found regimes where increasing Deltay or decreasing D-y decreases the overall flux, showing that permeation can be diffusion-limited by motion perpendicular to the transmembrane direction. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.