Dehydration of ethanol/water mixtures by pervaporation using soluble polyimide membranes

A series of soluble polyimides derived from 3,3′,4,4′‐benzhydrol tetracarboxylic dianhydride (BHTDA) with various diamines such as 1,4‐bis(4‐aminophenoxy)‐2‐tert‐butylbenzene (BATB), 1,4‐bis(4‐aminophenoxy)‐2,5‐di‐tert‐butylbenzene (BADTB), and 2,2′‐dimethyl‐4,4′‐ bis(4‐aminophenoxy)biphenyl (DBAPB) were investigated for pervaporation separation of ethanol/water mixtures. Diamine structure effect on the pervaporation of 90 wt% aqueous ethanol solution through the BHTDA‐based polyimide membranes was studied. The separation factor ranked in the following order: BHTDA–DBAPB > BHTDA–BATB > BHTDA–BADTB. The increase in molecular volume for the substituted group in the polymer backbone increased the permeation rate. As the feed ethanol concentration increased, the permeation rate increased, while the water concentration in the permeate decreased for all polyimide membranes. The optimum pervaporation performance was obtained by the BHTDA–DBAPB membrane with a 90 wt% aqueous ethanol solution, giving a separation factor of 141, permeation rate of 255 g m^?2 h^?1 and 36 000 pervaporation separation index (PSI) value. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry     

Sorption,diffusion and pervaporation of water/ethanol mixtures in polyetherimide membranes

Homogeneous and composite aromatic polyetherimide membranes were prepared by casting from N-methylpyrrolidinone (NMP) solutions and by electrodeposition of polymer at the cathode, respectively. The membranes were evaluated for their sorption, diffusion and pervaporation separation of water from ethanol with emphasis on the breaking of azeotropic composition. The membrane performance was shown to be dependent on the feed concentration, but still selective towards water over the whole composition range of the feed mixture. By looking at the surface energy parameters, the determination of degree of swelling and the calculation of deviation coefficients (ε), an interesting insight was gained into the coupling effect in this solvent/membrane system. From the sorption, diffusion and temperature-dependent permeation behaviour, it could be concluded that in this system the diffusivity of permeant plays a major role in determining the pervaporation performance, rather than the solubility. © 1999 Society of Chemical Industry     

Modified free-volume model for pervaporation of water/ethanol mixtures through membranes containing hydrophilic groups or ions

The free-volume model for pervaporation has been modified by considering the polar path, in order to apply the model to membranes containing hydrophilic groups. The free-volume parameters were determined by inverse gas chromatography. For the polyacrylonitrile (PAN) membrane, the transport mechanism could be analyzed only by the free-volume model; however, for a membrane containing a hydrophilic moiety, the transport properties could be interpreted by the modified model. In water/ethanol mixtures, ethanol transports through the membrane matrix, while water permeates through the polar pathways consisting of polar groups or ions and water molecules as well as through the membrane matrix. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Separation of ethanol from ethanol/water mixtures by pervaporation with silicone rubber membranes: Effect of silicone rubbers

In this study, poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS)/poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), poly(phenyl methyl siloxane) (PPMS)/PVDF, poly(ethoxy methyl siloxane) (PEOMS)/PVDF, and poly(trifluropropyl methyl siloxane) (PTFMS)/PVDF composite membranes were prepared. The different functional compositions of these membranes were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The surfaces and sections of these membranes were investigated by scanning electron microscopy. The hydrophobicity at the membrane surface was assessed with contact angle measurement. Swelling experiments were carried out to investigate the swelling behavior of these membranes. The composite membranes prepared in this study were used in the pervaporation separation of ethanol/water mixtures, and their separation performances were compared. The results show that the separation performances of these membranes were strongly related to the silicone rubber components and composition, the total fluxes decreased in the following order: PDMS > PPMS > PEOMS > PTFMS. The separation factor followed the following order: PPMS > PEOMS > PDMS > PTFMS (5 wt % ethanol at 40°C). In addition, the effects of the feed temperature (40–70°C) and feed composition (5–20 wt %) on the separation efficiency were investigated experimentally. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

高亲水性海藻酸钠膜渗透汽化分离甲醇水溶液

在海藻酸钠基质中引入磷钨酸颗粒,制备了一种高亲水性渗透汽化杂化膜。由热失重等分析手段对膜进行了表征,并在不同温度下（30～60 ℃）通过分离80%～95%的甲醇水溶液,测试了杂化膜的渗透汽化性能,实验结果表明：添加了磷钨酸的杂化膜,其分离性能显著高于纯海藻酸钠膜,当磷钨酸含量为6%时,30 ℃下分离水含量5%的溶液,膜通量达到318.2 g/(m2?h),分离因子达到656.9,分别是纯海藻酸钠膜的3.7倍和26.3倍。利用阿累尼乌斯关系式考察了膜通量与温度之间的关系,发现溶液通过膜的活化能随着磷钨酸含量的增加而降低。表明,磷钨酸的加入使得渗透物在杂化膜内更容易透过。     

Segmented network structures for the separation of water/ethanol mixtures by pervaporation

α,ω-Acrylate terminated poly(1,3-dioxolane) (polyDXL), was used as a hydrophilic cross-linker of hydrophobic poly(methyl methacrylate) (polyMMA) chains for the synthesis of amphiphilic AB-block copolymer networks. The application of these segmented networks as membranes for dehydration of water/ethanol mixtures by the pervaporation technique was investigated. Because the cross-links inhibit to a great extent phase separation between the components of these materials, as revealed by dynamic mechanical thermal analysis, an optimal control of the membrane characteristics could be achieved by variation of the hydrophilicity–hydrophobicity balance and the cross-link density. The combination of desorption experiments, determination of swelling degrees and calculation of deviation coefficients (ε) allowed us to demonstrate in these membranes the existence of a so-called coupling effect. It was shown that polyDXL plays a predominant role in the specific interactions between the membrane and the solvents, which cause the preferential water transport in all the membranes over the whole composition range of the feed mixture. © 1998 SCI.     

Separation of methanol from methanol/water mixtures with pervaporation hybrid membranes

A series of pervaporation (PV) hybrid membranes were prepared via the crosslinking of poly(vinyl alcohol) with formaldehyde solution with N‐3‐(trimethoxysilyl) propyl ethylenediamine (TMSPEDA) as a hybrid precursor of the sol–gel process. Both the thermal stability and separation performances of the prepared hybrid membranes were investigated. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that the thermal degradation temperature of the hybrid membranes was beyond 250°C. Differential scanning calorimetry indicated that both the glass‐transition temperature and the crystallization temperature increased with elevated TMSPEDA contents in the hybrid membranes. PV experiments demonstrated that for membranes A–D, both the permeation flux and separation factor indicated the same trade‐off effect. Moreover, it was found that for individual membranes, the permeation flux increased as the feed temperature was increased. Meanwhile, the separation factor revealed an change trend opposite to that of the permeation flux. Furthermore, proper addition of TMSPEDA in the hybrid membrane was found to reduce the permeation activation energy. On the basis of these findings, we deduced that these hybrid membranes have potential applications in the separation of methanol/water mixtures. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

Dehydration of glycerin/water mixtures by pervaporation using homo and copolymer membranes

Separation characteristics of glycerol/water mixtures were studied using hydrophilic poly(acrylonitrile-comethacrylic acid) (PANMAC), poly(acrylonitrile-co-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PANHEMA), Poly(vinyl alcohol) GFT-1001, and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) crosslinked with maleic anhydride (PVAManh) membranes. All membranes were found to be highly water selective. PVAManh membrane yielded the highest permeation flux for water over the entire range of water concentration studied. Homopolymers (PVAManh and GFT-1001) gave better permeation rates than copolymer membranes (PANHEMA and PANMAC). But the swelling of homopolymers is nuch greater than that of copolymers, which is why PVA membranes have poor longevity. No effect on selectivity of the membrane was observed with a change in operating parameters. No decomposition/polymerization of glycerin was observed, as there was no involvement of high temperatures as there is with distillation. A comparison of pervaporation with vapor-liquid equilibrium data showed that pervaporation of glycerin/water mixtures yielded better selectivity than vapor-liquid equilibrium, particularly for glycerol concentrations above 90 wt%.     

Incorporation of multiwalled carbon nanotubes into poly(vinyl alcohol) membranes for use in the pervaporation of water/ethanol mixtures

Multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWNT)/poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) blend membranes were prepared by the solution‐casting method to determine the effect of MWNTs with nanoscale empty inner space along the tube length on the pervaporation performance of a PVA membrane in the separation of alcohol/water mixtures. The blend membranes were then characterized with several analytical methods such as transmission electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and X‐ray diffractometry: Transmission electron microscopy showed that the MWNTs were homogeneously distributed through the PVA matrix. The glass‐transition temperature of the PVA membrane was increased from 69.21 to 78.53°C via blending with MWNTs. The crystallinity of the PVA matrix decreased with increasing MWNTs up to 5 wt % from 41 to 36%. The pervaporation properties of the blend membranes were completely different from those of the pure PVA membrane in the separation of water/ethanol mixtures. The flux of the membrane was increased with the amount of MWNTs, whereas the separation factor was maintained up to 1.0 wt % MWNTs. However, beyond that, it was reduced. These results suggested that two factors, the crystallinity of the membrane and the diameters of the MWNTs, affected the performance of the membranes. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009     

ZSM-5沸石填充聚氨酯膜的制备及渗透汽化分离水中乙酸异丙酯

采用两步法制备了ZSM-5沸石填充的疏水性端羟基聚丁二烯基聚氨酯（PU）膜,用以分离水中芳香性有机物乙酸异丙酯。对该膜的化学结构、形貌及热稳定性进行了表征,并研究了ZSM-5沸石填充的PU膜的溶胀度及渗透汽化性能。结果表明：添加ZSM-5沸石后,膜的热稳定性明显提高,沸石与膜的相容性较好,且随着添加量的增加,膜的溶胀度降低,分离因子先升后降。在303 K、料液浓质量分数为1%的条件下,ZSM-5添加量为20%（质量分数）时,分离因子达到最高;同时随着料液浓度及操作温度的上升,通量和分离因子都增加。在333 K、料液质量分数为1%的条件下,PU-ZSM-5-20膜的分离因子及通量最高可达288.72 g/（m2·h）和53.21 g/（m2·h）。     

Nonequilibrium nanoblend membranes for the pervaporation of benzene/cyclohexane mixtures

Immiscible blends of polymers were cast from solution, and the rate of evaporation was controlled relative to the rate of phase separation to produce different morphologies; upon crosslinking, stable nonequilibrium nanoblends were realized. This process of forced assembly produced useful membrane materials that could be designed for solubility selectivity with the group contribution methodology. Crosslinked ternary blends of nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and a tercopolymer of ethylene oxide/epichlorohydrin/allyl glycidyl ether (Hydrin) were examined for use in the separation of benzene from cyclohexane by pervaporation. For a 50 : 50 wt % benzene/cyclohexane feed, blend 811 (containing 80 wt % NBR, 10 wt % Hydrin, and 10 wt % PMMA) gave a separation factor of 7.3 and a normalized flux of 28 kg μm/m² h; such a performance is unmatched in the literature, with the flux being very high for the reported separation factor. Among the samples tested, the flux of the membrane increased as the amount of NBR in the ternary blend decreased; however, the separation factor was not largely affected. Blended samples showed no sign of deformation after 48 h at the operating temperature as compared to pure NBR, which did show evidence of creep. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Modified ZSM‐5/polydimethylsiloxane mixed matrix membranes for ethanol/water separation via pervaporation

In this article, chlorosilane‐modified ZSM‐5 particles were incorporated into polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to form mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) for ethanol/water mixture separation via pervaporation (PV). The membranes were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and mechanical performance testing. The maximum loading and dispersion of ZSM‐5 into PDMS were improved by chlorosilane modification. To evaluate the PV performance, the MMMs were used to separate an aqueous ethanol solution. The effect of zeolite loading and operational conditions on PV performance was investigated in detail. The separation factor of the composite membranes filled with modified ZSM‐5 increased considerably versus unmodified membrane, while the total flux decreased to some degree. Of all the chlorosilane‐modified membranes, dodecyltrichlorosilane modified ZSM‐5 filled PDMS showed the best separation factor of 15.8 for ethanol. POLYM. COMPOS., 37:1282–1291, 2016. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Swelling behavior of pervaporation membranes in ethanol–water mixtures

Novel hydrophobic composite membranes made of crosslinked poly(dimethylsiloxane) and poly(methyl hydrogen siloxane) (PDMS–PMHS) with various amounts of catalyst were prepared. Pervaporation experiments with water–ethanol mixtures revealed that an optimum ratio of catalyst to polymer base existed. Both swelling behavior and dynamic–mechanical properties of these silicone films were studied. The swelling experiments in different mixtures of ethanol and water determined that ethanol is preferentially sorbed and that the membranes are only capable to absorb a limited quantity of solvent. Equilibrium swelling data were also used in combination with the analysis of the viscoelastic relaxation of the swollen samples to obtain the dependence of the dynamic–mechanical properties of the silicone films on the quantity of permeants sorbed into the membrane. It was observed that the permselective parameters were related with the mobility of the chains and the free volume. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 75: 1424–1433, 2000     

TS‐1 molecular sieves filled polydimethylsiloxane membranes for ethanol/water separation via pervaporation

TS‐1 molecular sieves were synthesized and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and UV–Vis spectroscopy. Results showed that the morphology, crystallinity, and purity of TS‐1 were closely related to the Ti/Si ratio, crystallization time, crystallization temperature, and calcination time. The TS‐1 particles were incorporated into polydimethylsiloxane to form mixed matrix membranes (MMMs), and these MMMs were first used to separate ethanol/water mixtures via pervaporation. The MMMs with 50 wt% TS‐1 (Ti/Si ratio of 0.02) loading showed the highest separation factor of 14.1 for 5 wt% ethanol feed concentration at 50°C. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 56:583–589, 2016. © 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Chitosan/TiO2 nanocomposite pervaporation membranes for ethanol dehydration

Novel chitosan/titanium dioxide (CS/TiO₂) nanocomposite membranes were prepared using tetrabutyl titanate (TBT) as precursor and acetyl acetone as chelating agent by in situ sol-gel process, and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetry (TG). The characterization results demonstrated that nano-sized TiO₂ particles dispersed homogeneously within the CS matrix, which could be assigned to the hydrogen and titanoxane bonds formed between CS and TiO₂. Moreover, the pervaporation performance of these membranes was investigated using the separation of ethanol-water mixture as model system. Compared with CS/TiO₂ hybrid membranes prepared by blending method, most of CS/TiO₂ nanocomposite membranes prepared by in situ sol-gel process exhibited higher permeation flux and separation factor under the identical conditions. Among all the prepared membranes, CS/TiO₂ nanocomposite membrane containing 6 wt% TiO₂ exhibited the best pervaporation performance, whose averaged permeation flux and separation factor were 0.340 kg m⁻² h⁻¹ and 196 for 90 wt% aqueous solution of ethanol at 80 °C, respectively.     

聚乙烯醇-二氧化硅/聚丙烯腈杂化复合膜渗透蒸发分离己内酰胺/水溶液

制备了以聚乙烯醇(PVA)填充纳米SiO2改性膜为活性层,聚丙烯腈(PAN)超滤膜为底膜的PVA-SiO2/PAN杂化复合膜,并用于己内酰胺(CPL)脱水。用FTIR,SEM,XRD,TGA分别对膜进行了表征,并考察了膜中纳米SiO2粒子的质量分数、进料组分质量分数和温度对复合膜分离性能的影响。结果表明,引入纳米SiO2后,杂化膜的热稳定性明显提高。当膜中纳米SiO2质量分数为1.0%时,复合膜渗透蒸发分离性能最佳。60℃下此复合膜用于分离质量分数为40%的CPL溶液时,其总通量和分离因子分别达到2 177 g/(m2.h)和349。     

Preparation of PVA membranes containing β-cyclodextrin oligomer (PVA/CD membrane) and their pervaporation characteristics for ethanol/water mixtures

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) membranes were modified by introducing β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) oligomer, which has an inclusion ability sensitive to size, structure, and hydrophilicity of the guest molecule. The modified membranes (PVA/CD membrane) were prepared by casting of the aqueous solutions of PVA and β-CD oligomer. The CD oligomer was immobilized in the membranes by cross-linking with glutaraldehyde. The cross-linking times were 1 and 8 h. The content of CD in the membranes was 33 wt %. The effects of CD on the pervaporation characteristics for water/ethanol were investigated by comparisons with those of the cross-linked PVA membranes. For the 1 h cross-linked membranes, CD increased both the water permeation rate and selectivity at lower ethanol concentrations in the feed. At higher ethanol concentrations, CD increased the water selectivity, but it decreased the water permeation rate. For the 8 h cross-linked membranes, at lower ethanol concentrations, CD increased the water permeation rate, but the water selectivity through the PVA/CD membrane was almost equal to that of the PVA membrane. At higher ethanol concentrations, CD increased the water selectivity and decreased the water permeation rate. These effects of CD can be interpreted in terms of the inclusion strength in the cavity and the reduction of the cross-linking density of the PVA phase in the membranes. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Polyvinyl alcohol/polysulfone (PVA/PSF) hollow fiber composite membranes for pervaporation separation of ethanol/water solution

Polysulfone (PSF) hollow fiber membranes were spun by phase‐inversion method from 29 wt % solids of 29 : 65 : 6 PSF/NMP/glycerol and 29 : 64 : 7 PSF/DMAc/glycol using 93.5 : 6.5 NMP/water and 94.5 : 5.5 DMAc/water as bore fluids, respectively, while the external coagulant was water. Polyvinyl alcohol/polysulfone (PVA/PSF) hollow fiber composite membranes were prepared after PSF hollow fiber membranes were coated using different PVA aqueous solutions, which were composed of PVA, fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ether (AEO₉), maleic acid (MAC), and water. Two coating methods (dip coating and vacuum coating) and different heat treatments were discussed. The effects of hollow fiber membrane treatment methods, membrane structures, ethanol solution temperatures, and MAC/PVA ratios on the pervaporation performance of 95 wt % ethanol/water solution were studied. Using the vacuum‐coating method, the suitable MAC/PVA ratio was 0.3 for the preparation of PVA/PSF hollow fiber composite membrane with the sponge‐like membrane structure. Its pervaporation performance was as follows: separation factor (α) was 185 while permeation flux (J) was 30g/m²·h at 50°C. Based on the experimental results, it was found that separation factor (α) of PVA/PSF composite membrane with single finger‐void membrane structure was higher than that with the sponge‐like membrane structure. Therefore, single finger‐void membrane structure as the supported membrane was more suitable than sponge‐like membrane structure for the preparation of PVA/PSF hollow fiber composite membrane. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 98: 247–254, 2005     

Pervaporation of ethanol/water and benzene/cyclohexane mixtures using novel substituted polyacetylene membranes

Summary In the ethanol/water pervaporation using membranes of Si-containing polymers, poly[1-phenyl-2-(p-trimethylsilyl)phenylacetylene] and poly[1-β-naphthyl-2-(p-trimethylsilyl)phenylacetylene], these polymer membranes permeated ethanol preferentially; α_EtOH/H2O 6.86 and 5.30, respectively, at 10 wt% EtOH content in the feed. Membranes of hydrocarbon-based polymers, poly(diphenylacetylene) and poly(1-β-naphthyl-2-phenylacetylene), which were prepared by desilylation of the two Si-containing polymer membranes, also exhibited ethanol permselectivity in ethanol/water pervaporation; α_EtOH/H2O 5.95 and 3.79, respectively. Further, in benzene/cyclohexane pervaporation, these desilylated membranes, which were insoluble in any organic solvent, showed rather low benzene permselectivity but very large fluxes. The results of the present study are attributed to the presence of many microvoids and, in turn, sparse structures. Received: 6 March 2002/ Accepted: 28 March 2002