A novel approach to the preparation of hollow fiber membranes from heat-resistant polynaphthoylenebenzimidazole

For the first time, hollow fiber polynaphthoylenebenzimidazole (PNBI) membranes were obtained by a two-stage acid-free method through a precursor fiber made of poly(o-aminophenylene)naphthoylenimide (PANI-O) by its subsequent heat treatment, leading to the formation of PNBI. The gas separation characteristics of such fiber at room temperature for H₂, He, O₂ and CO₂ were studied by an integral method. It was shown that PNBI is one of the most promising polymers for the manufacture of thermally stable gas separation membranes with high productivity.