Maleic Anhydride Crosslinked Alginate-Chitosan Blend Membranes for Pervaporation of Ethylene Glycol-Water Mixtures

Calcium alginate-chitosan (CA/CS) blended membranes were prepared and crosslinked with maleic anhydride (MA) for the pervaporation (PV) separation of ethylene glycol (EG)/water mixtures at 30°C. The structure and properties of blend membranes were studied with the aid of FTIR, XRD, TGA, and SEM. The effect of experimental parameters such as feed composition, membrane thickness, and permeate pressure on separation performance of the MA crosslinked membranes were determined in terms of flux, selectivity, and pervaporation separation index. Sorption studies were carried out to evaluate the extent of interaction and degree of swelling of the blend membranes in pure, as well as in binary mixtures. The experimental results suggested that the crosslinked membrane (M-CA/CS) exhibited a good selectivity of 302 at a normalized flux of 0.38 kg.m^{? 2}.h^{? 1}.10 μ m at 30°C for 96.88 wt% EG aqueous solution.     

Separation of 2-butanol–water mixtures by pervaporation through PVA–NYL 66 blend membranes

Blend membranes of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and nylon 66 (NYL) were synthesized and crosslinked with glutaraldehyde (GA) and assessed for their suitability in dehydrating 2-butanol by pervaporation (PV). These blends were subjected to sorption studies to determine the extent of interaction and degree of swelling in pure liquids as well as binary mixtures. Wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) were carried out to investigate changes in crystallinity and thermal stability, respectively. The effect of experimental parameters such as feed water concentration, permeate pressure and barrier thickness on membrane flux and selectivity was evaluated. The membranes were found to have good potential for breaking the azeotrope of 27.6 wt.% water with a flux of 3.07 kg/m² h 10 μm and selectivity of 26.5. Selectivity was found to improve with decreasing feed water concentration and increasing membrane thickness, whereas opposite trends were observed in case of flux. Higher permeate pressure caused a reduction in both flux and selectivity. These effects were clearly elucidated.     

Different viscosity grade sodium alginate and modified sodium alginate membranes in pervaporation separation of water + acetic acid and water + isopropanol mixtures

Different viscosity grade sodium alginate (NaAlg) membranes and modified sodium alginate membranes prepared by solution casting method and crosslinked with glutaraldehyde in methanol:water (75:25) mixture were used in pervaporation (PV) separation of water+acetic acid (HAc) and water+isopropanol mixtures at 30 °C for feed mixtures containing 10–50 mass% of water. Equilibrium swelling experiments were performed at 30 °C in order to study the stability of membrane in the fluid environment. Membranes prepared from low viscosity grade sodium alginate showed the highest separation selectivity of 15.7 for 10 mass% of water in the feed mixture, whereas membranes prepared with high viscosity grade sodium alginate exhibited a selectivity of 14.4 with a slightly higher flux than that observed for the low viscosity grade sodium alginate membrane. In an effort to increase the PV performance, low viscosity grade sodium alginate was modified by adding 10 mass% of polyethylene glycol (PEG) with varying amounts of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) from 5 to 20 mass%. The modified membranes containing 10 mass% PEG and 5 mass% PVA showed an increase in selectivity up to 40.3 with almost no change in flux. By increasing the amount of PVA from 10 to 20 mass% and keeping 10 mass% of PEG, separation selectivity decreased systematically, but flux increased with increasing PVA content. The modified sodium alginate membrane with 5% PVA was further studied for the PV separation of water+isopropanol mixture for which highest selectivity of 3591 was observed. Temperature effect on pervaporation separation was studied for all the membranes; with increasing temperature, flux increased while selectivity decreased. Calculated Arrhenius parameters for permeation and diffusion processes varied depending upon the nature of the membrane.     

Poly(vinyl alcohol)/poly(methyl methacrylate) blend membranes for pervaporation separation of water + isopropanol and water + 1,4-dioxane mixtures

Pervaporation (PV) separation of water + isopropanol and water + 1,4-dioxane mixtures has been attempted using the blend membranes of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) with 5 wt.% of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). These results have been compared with the plain PVA membrane. Both plain PVA and PVA/PMMA blend membranes have been crosslinked with glutaraldehyde in an acidic medium. The membranes were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry and universal testing machine. Pervaporation separation experiments have been performed at 30 °C for 10, 15, 20, 30 and 40 wt.% of feed water mixtures containing isopropanol as well as 1,4-dioxane. PVA/PMMA blend membrane has shown a selectivity of 400 for 10 wt.% of water in water + isopropanol feed, while for water + 1,4-dioxane feed mixture, membrane selectivity to water was 104 at 30 °C. For both the feed mixtures, selectivity for the blend membrane was higher than that observed for plain PVA membrane, but flux of the blend membrane was lower than that observed for the plain PVA membrane. Membranes of this study are able to remove as much as 98 wt.% of water from the feed mixtures of water + isopropanol, while 92 wt.% of water was removed from water + 1,4-dioxane feed mixtures at 30 °C. Flux of water increased for both the feed mixtures, while the selectivity decreased at higher feed water concentrations. The same trends were observed at 40 and 50 °C for 10, 15 and 20 wt.% of water mixtures containing isopropanol as well as 1,4-dioxane feed mixtures, which also covered their azeotropic composition ranges. Membrane performance was studied by calculating flux (J_p), selectivity (), pervaporation separation index (PSI) and enrichment factor (β). Permeation flux followed the Arrhenius trend over the range of temperatures investigated. It was found that by introducing a hydrophobic PMMA polymer into a hydrophilic PVA, the selectivity increased dramatically, while flux decreased compared to plain PVA, due to a loss in PVA chain relaxation.     

Preparation and pervaporation properties of crosslinked hyperbranched poly(amine-ester) membranes

Crosslinked hyperbranched poly(amine-ester) (HPAE) membranes were prepared by crosslinking its terminal hydroxyl groups with glutaraldehyde (GA). The crosslinked HPAE membranes showed high reactivity and good hydrophilicity. The crosslinking degree was investigated by Fourier transformation infrared spectra (FT-IR). Atom force microscope (AFM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) reveals that the crosslinked HPAE films have smooth surfaces, dense and homogenous matrices. The swelling degree of the membrane was higher in water than that in isopropanol. From the permeation of pure water through the HPAE membrane, the effect of hydroxyl/aldehyde group ratio on the permeation flux and separation factor was investigated. The results indicated that the permeation flux increase was accompanied with the separation factor decrease if the water concentration increased in the feed solution.     

超支化聚酯低压纳滤膜的制备与表征

通过超支化聚酯(HPE)末端的羟基与戊二醛(GA)之间的羟醛缩合反应,采用简单的浸涂-交联方法,制备了一种以聚砜超滤膜为支撑层,交联的HPE为活性分离层的复合纳滤膜.采用衰减全反射红外光谱(ATR-FTIR)、接触角测定、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)对纳滤膜的表面化学组成、亲水性和膜形貌进行了表征.考察了HPE溶液浓度、GA溶液浓度对膜分离和渗透性能的影响,优化的HPE和GA溶液浓度分别为9.8 g/L和7.4 g/L,此时在0.4 MPa下膜的水通量达69.6 L/(m2.h),对Na2SO4脱除率为93.2%,表现出低操作压力、高通量、高脱盐率的优异性能.纳滤膜对无机盐的截留顺序为Na2SO4>NaCl>MgSO4>MgCl2,呈现明显的荷负电特征.     

Poly(vinyl alcohol)/cellulose nanocrystal barrier membranes

In this study, barrier membranes were prepared from poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVOH) with different amounts of cellulose nanocrystals (CNXLs) as filler. Poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) was used as a crosslinking agent to provide water resistance to PVOH. The membranes were heat treated at various temperatures to optimize the crosslinking density. Heat treatment at 170 °C for 45 min resulted in membranes with improved water resistance without polymer degradation. Infrared spectroscopy indicated ester bond formation with heat treatment. Mechanical tests showed that membranes with 10% CNXLs/10% PAA/80% PVOH were synergistic and had the highest tensile strength, tensile modulus and toughness of all the membranes studied. Polarized optical microscopy showed agglomeration of CNXLs at filler loadings greater than 10%. Differential thermogravimetric analysis (DTGA) showed a highly synergistic effect with 10% CNXL/10% PAA/80% PVOH and supported the tensile test results.Transport properties were studied, including water vapor transport rate and the transport of trichloroethylene, a representative industrial toxic material. Water vapor transmission indicated that all the membranes allowed moisture to pass. However, moisture transport was reduced by the presence of both CNXLs and PAA crosslinking agent. A standard time lag diffusion test utilizing permeation cups was used to study the chemical barrier properties. The membranes containing ≥10% CNXLs or PAA showed significantly reduced flux compared to the control. The CNXLs were then modified by surface carboxylation in order to better understand the mechanism of transport reduction. While barrier performance improvements were minimal, the chemical modification improved the dispersion of the modified CNXLs which led to improved performance. Of special note was an increase in the initial degradation temperatures of both modified and unmodified systems, with the modified system showing an initial degradation temperature >100 °C higher than the cellulose alone. This may reflect more extensive crosslinking in the modified composite.     

Pervaporation separation of water-acetic acid mixtures through poly(vinyl alcohol) membranes crosslinked with glutaraldehyde

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) membranes crosslinked with glutaraldehyde (GA) were prepared by a solution method for the pervaporation separation of acetic acid-water mixtures. In the solution method, dry PVA films were crosslinked by immersion for 2 days at 40°C in reaction solutions which contained different contents of GA, acetone and a catalyst, HCl. In order to fabricate the crosslinked PVA membranes which were stable in aqueous solutions, acetone was used as reaction medium in stead of aqueous inorganic salt solutions which have been commonly used in reaction solution for PVA crosslinking reaction. The crosslinking reaction between the hydroxyl group of PVA and the aldehyde group of GA was characterized by IR spectroscopy. Swelling measurements were carried out in both water and acetic acid to investigate the swelling behavior of the membranes. The swelling behaviour of a membrane fabricated at different GA content in a reaction solution was dependent on crosslinking density and chemical functional groups created as a result of the reaction between PVA and GA, such as the acetal group, ether linkage and unreacted pendent aldehydes in PVA. The pervaporation separation of acetic acid-water mixtures was performed over a range of 70–90 wt% acetic acid in the feed at temperatures varying from 35 to 50°C to examine the separation performances of the PVA membranes. Permeation behaviour through the membranes was analyzed by using pervaporation activation energies which had been calculated from the Arrhenius plots of permeation rates.     

Novel crosslinked chitosan/poly(vinylpyrrolidone) blend membranes for dehydrating tetrahydrofuran by the pervaporation technique

Pervaporation separation has been attempted for dehydrating tetrahydrofuran (THF) from its aqueous mixtures using the novel blend membranes of poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) and chitosan (CS). Membranes were physically blended and crosslinked with glutaraldehyde as well as with sulfuric acid in methanol/sulfuric acid mixture bath to enhance their selectivity and mechanical strength properties. Membranes were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetry (TGA) and X-ray diffractometer (X-RD) to assess their intermolecular interactions, thermal stability and crystallinity. Sorption studies were carried out in pure as well as in different compositions of THF + water mixtures to assess polymer–liquid interactions. The membrane exhibited a high selectivity of 1025 with a reasonably high water flux value of 0.0995 kg/m² h at the azeotropic feed composition (94.31 wt.% of THF). Effect of operating parameters such as feed composition, membrane thickness and permeate pressure were evaluated.     

Dehydration of 1,4-dioxane through blend membranes of poly(vinyl alcohol) and chitosan by pervaporation

Blend membranes prepared from poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and chitosan (CS) were crosslinked with glutaraldehyde and used in the pervaporation dehydration of 1,4-dioxane. Membranes were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (X-RD) to assess, respectively, the intermolecular interactions, thermal stability and crystallinity. Equilibrium sorption studies were carried out in pure liquids and binary mixtures of different compositions of water + 1,4-dioxane mixtures to assess the polymer–liquid interactions. The crosslinked membrane showed a good potential in breaking the azeotrope of 82 wt.% aqueous 1,4-dioxane giving a selectivity of 117 with a reasonable water flux of 0.37 kg/m² h. The effect of operating parameters such as feed composition, membrane thickness and permeate pressure was evaluated.     

Composite membranes prepared from glutaraldehyde cross-linked sulfonated cardo polyetherketone and its blends for the dehydration of acetic acid by pervaporation

Cardo polyetherketone (PEK-C) composite membranes were prepared by casting glutaraldehyde (GA) cross-linked sulfonated cardo polyetherketone (SPEK-C) or silicotungstic acid (STA) filled SPEK-C and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) blending onto a PEK-C substrate. The compatibility between the active layer and PEK-C substrate is improved by immersing the PEK-C substrate in a GA cross-linked sodium alginate (NaAlg) solution and using water–dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as a co-solvent for preparing the STA-PVA-SPEK-C/GA active layer. The pervaporation (PV) dehydration of acetic acid shows that permeation flux decreased and separation factor increased with increasing GA content in the homogeneous membranes. The permeation flux achieved a minimum and the separation factor a maximum when the GA content increased to a certain amount. Thereafter the permeation flux increased and the separation factor decreased with further increasing the GA content. The PV performance of the composite membranes is superior to that of the homogeneous membranes when the feed water content is below 25 wt%. The permeation activation energy of the composite membranes is lower than that of the homogeneous membranes in the PV dehydration of 10 wt% water in acetic acid. The STA-PVA-SPEK-C-GA/PEK-C composite membrane using water–DMSO as co-solvent has an excellent separation performance with a flux of 592 g m⁻² h⁻¹ and a separation factor of 91.2 at a feed water content of 10 wt% at 50 °C.     

High-performance membranes for pervaporation II. Crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol)–poly(acrylic acid) blends

Dense membranes made by crosslinking of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) with poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) were prepared and tested in pervaporation and differential permeation of water–alcohol mixtures. Instead of a decrease of permeation flux as generally observed with most crosslinking agents, an increase in the permeability was observed with PAA crosslinked membranes at low PAA contents. The permeation flux increases with PAA contents in the polymer with no selectivity reduction for membranes containing less than 15 wt. % PAA. The membranes show good performances to water–2-propanol and water–ethanol mixtures, i.e. high fluxes and high selectivities to pure water. The membranes were stable and highly permeable to water. The enhancement of the permeability of PVA can be explained by a reduced crystallinity and an improved diffusivity due to the presence of PAA.     

Artificial red cells with crosslinked hemoglobin membranes

Artificial cells containing concentrated hemoglobin (Hb) solution were prepared by interfacial polymerization of Hb with glutaraldehyde (GA) in liquid membrane capsules (LMC). A solution containing 30% of Hb was emulsified in mineral oil as red cell-size microdroplets, and this emulsion was dispersed in an aqueous phase containing glutaraldehyde to form LMC. The LMC were semipermeable templates that held the microdroplets of Hb in suspension while GA diffused through the oil to the microdroplet surfaces. The GA crosslinked Hb at the surface of each microdroplet to form an artificial red-cell membrane encapsulating Hb solution. A water-soluble surfactant was used to eject the cells from the LMC and suspend them in saline. Several surfactants were evaluated. Cell size was controlled by agitation speed during preparation of the original emulsion. Cells of 2.52 = ±1.69 μm were prepared. The encapsulated Hb retained capacity to bind and release O₂. The cells had aP ₅₀ of 8.9 torr (1200 Pa) and a capacity of 0.55 cc O₂/g of total Hb, indicating that the crosslinked portion of the Hb did not contribute to O₂ transport.     

Self-diffusion of water-ethanol mixture in chitosan membranes obtained by pulsed-field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance technique

The self-diffusion of water and ethanol for crosslinked and uncrosslinked chitosan membranes have been investigated by pulsed-field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. It has been shown that during diffusion processes, water and ethanol are localized in different parts of the chitosan membrane. In the crosslinked membrane, the self-diffusion coefficient for water is higher, but that for ethanol is essentially lower, than those for the uncrosslinked membrane. For this reason, the mobility selectivity is essentially higher in crosslinked membrane as compared to the uncrosslinked. The sorption selectivity are the same for these two types of membranes.     

Recent advances in sodium alginate-based membranes for dehydration of aqueous ethanol through pervaporation

Sodium alginate (SA) is a progressive material for membrane fabrication. The technological development of SA-based membranes has made a significant contribution to the separation techniques, especially in aqueous organic solutions. The outstanding performance of SA is attributed to its outstanding structural flexibility and hydrophilicity. In view of structural characteristics, SA membranes have immense utilization in the pervaporation separation of organics. Among various organics, dehydration of aqueous ethanol is employed as a standard to check the success of pervaporation (PV) membrane. Because ethanol and water have comparable molecular sizes, thus difficult to extract water from aqueous ethanol mixtures than it is for other organics. A literature survey shows that wide-ranging data are available on the PV performance of SA and its modified membranes. In this context, the present review addresses the recent advances made in SA membranes for enhanced ethanol dehydration performance during the last decade. Available data since 2010 has been compiled for grafted, crosslinked, blend, mixed matrix, and composite hybrid sodium alginate membranes in terms of separation factor, permeation flux, and pervaporation separation index PSI. The data are assessed with reference to the effect of feed composition, membrane selectivity, flux, and swelling behavior.     

Studies of Permeabilities of Metallic Ions Through Crosslinked Chitosan Membranes

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＣｈｉｔｉｎａｎｄｃｈｉｔｏｓａｎｒｅｐｒｅｓｅｎｔｔｈｅｓｅｃｏｎｄｌａｒｇｅｓｔｃｌａｓｓｏｆｎａｔｕｒａｌｂｉｏｐｏｌｙｍｅｒｓ,ｗｈｉｃｈｈａｖｅｂｅｅｎｒｅｐｏｒｔｅｄｔｏｂｅｐｒｏｍｉｓｉｎｇｐｏｌｙｍｅｒｓｎｏｔ...     

Blended chitosan and polyvinyl alcohol membranes for the pervaporation dehydration of isopropanol

Homogeneous membranes were prepared by casting the solution of blended chitosan and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) on a glass plate. The percent weight of chitosan in the membrane was varied from 0 to 100%. The membrane thickness was in the range of 15–30 μm. The membranes were heat treated at 150 °C for an hour. After that the membranes were crosslinked by glutaraldehyde and sulfuric acid in acetone aqueous solution. The membranes were tested at 30–60 °C for dehydration performance of 50–95% isopropanol aqueous solutions. At around 90% of isopropanol in the feed mixture, permeate flux increased whereas the percent of water in permeate tended to decrease when the feed temperature increased for all membranes, except that the water content in permeate from the membrane containing 75 wt.% chitosan remained constant. The swelling degree in water and the total flux increased with increasing chitosan content in membranes. The effect of temperature on permeate flux followed the Arrhenius relationship. The permeate flux decreased when isopropanol in the feed increased for all membranes. However, water content in permeate and isopropanol concentration in the feed formed complex relationship for different chitosan content membranes. Sorption did not appear to have significant effects on separation. The membrane containing chitosan 75% performed the best. For a feed solution containing 90% isopropanol at 60 °C, the permeate flux was 644 g/m² h with water content of nearly 100% in the permeate. At 55% isopropanol in the feed at 60 °C, the permeate flux was 3812 g/m² h. In the range of 55–95% of isopropanol in the feed, the water content in permeate was more than 99.5%. This membrane showed very excellent performance with good mechanical strength. It is promising to develop this membrane for industrial uses.     

Pervaporation properties of crosslinked poly(dimethylsiloxane) membranes for the removal of hydrocarbons from water

The pervaporation (PV) performance of crosslinked poly(dimethylsiloxane) dimethylmethacrylate (PDMSDMMA) membranes for an aqueous solution of various hydrocarbons was studied using sorption–diffusion theory. Three chlorinated hydrocarbons (chloroform, trichloroethylene, and tetrachloromethane) and three aromatic hydrocarbons (benzene, chlorobenzene, and toluene) were used as the permeants. When aqueous solutions of 0.05 wt % hydrocarbon were permeated through the crosslinked PDMSDMMA membranes, they showed high hydrocarbon/water selectivity and permeability during PV. The hydrocarbon/water selectivity of the crosslinked PDMSDMMA membranes was significantly dependent upon the permeants; in particular, chloroform removed the hydrocarbons most efficiently in this study. The results of the temperature dependence of the PV performance and hydrocarbon absorption into the membrane revealed that the difference in hydrocarbon/water selectivity for various aqueous solutions of hydrocarbons during PV depended significantly on the molar volume and diameter of the hydrocarbons. The permeation and removal mechanism of hydrocarbons from water through crosslinked PDMSDMMA membranes can be explained by a qualitative model based on the diffusion jump model. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 2079–2090, 2006     

Silica filled poly(4-methyl-2-pentyne) nanocomposite membranes: Similarities and differences with poly(1-trimethylsilyl-1-propyne)–silica systems

The performance of poly(4-methyl-2-pentyne) (PMP)/silica nanocomposites was studied for membranes with a filler content between 10 and 40 wt%. An increase in permeability and a constant vapor selectivity were measured with increasing filler content. The constant selectivity was in contrast to earlier published results for silica filled poly(1-trimethylsilyl-1-propyne) (PTSMP) membranes. Therefore, a comparison between both materials was made. Free volume sizes and interstitial mesopore sizes were determined by use of positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) and image analysis was performed on transmission electron microscopy (TEM) pictures of both materials. Although both materials possessed interstitial mesopores, a difference in membrane structure was noticed, explaining the difference in membrane performance.     

高硅ZSM—5沸石填充硅橡胶膜的醇—水渗透蒸发分离性质

高硅ZSM－5沸石填充疏水性硅橡胶蓦地低浓度醇－水体度醇－水体的渗透蒸发性质的研究有明，提高沸石硅铝比，增加填充量以及进行酸处理皆有利于改善膜对醇－水的分离系数和通量。料液的成，浓度以及温度对膜的分离性质也有显著影响。