Vapor permeation of ethanol-water mixtures using sodium alginate membranes with crosslinking gradient structure

For the vapor permeation of ethanol-water mixtures, two types of dense sodium alginate (SA) membranes have been prepared: a nascent SA membrane and crosslinked SA membranes with glutaraldehyde (GA). In the vapor permeation of the concentrated ethanol-water mixtures through the SA membranes, the effects of feed temperature, cell temperature and crosslinking density in the membrane were investigated on the membrane performance, and a comparison of vapor permeation process was made with pervaporation. SA membranes having different crosslinking gradients have been fabricated by exposing the nascent membrane to different GA content of reaction solutions. The extent of the gradient was controlled by the exposing time. The permeation performance of the membranes will be discussed with the extent of the gradient. An optimal crosslinking gradient was determined in terms of flux and membrane stability. The separation of ethanol-water mixtures through the membrane with the optimal crosslinking gradient was carried out by vapor permeation and the permeation performance will be discussed, and compared with pervaporation.     

Chemical-Modified Nylon 4 Membrane for Pervaporation

Abstract

A hydrophilic polymer membrane was synthesized with 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) onto a Nylon 4 polymer backbone, PHEMA-g-N4. The membranes were water permselective because of the hydrophilicity, and the water permselectivity increased with increasing the degree of grafting. Permseparation of water was investigated with respect to the feed aqueous alcohol concentration, feed temperature, size of the alcohols, and degree of grafting. The separation factors of this PHEMA-g-N4 membrane were higher than those of the unmodified Nylon 4 membrane for pervaporation of aqueous ethanol solution, while the permeation rate was slightly lower. A separation factor of 98 and a 194 g/m²·h permeation rate could be obtained. Compared with an unmodified Nylon 4 membrane, the PHEMA-g-N4 membrane effectively increased the pervaporation separation index for the water-ethanol mixtures on pervaporation separation.     

Acrylamide plasma-induced polymerization onto expanded poly(tetrafluoroethylene) membrane for aqueous alcohol mixture vapor permeation separation

To improve the vapor permeation performance of aqueous alcohol mixtures, acrylamide (AAm) plasma activation then post-graft polymerization onto an expanded poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (e-PTFE) membrane, e-PTFE-g-AAm, was synthesized in this study. The surface properties of the e-PTFE-g-AAm membrane were characterized using ATR/FTIR, SEM, AFM and the water surface contact angle. The degree of grafting increases with increasing polymerization temperature. A maximum value was obtained at 80 °C. The water contact angle of the pristine e-PTFE membrane and the e-PTFE-g-AAm membrane with a 21% grafting degree was 109.7° and 34.1°, respectively. Optimum vapor permeation performance was obtained using an e-PTFE-g-AAm membrane with a 21% grafting degree for a 90 wt.% aqueous ethanol solution, giving a permeate water concentration of 99.4% and a permeation rate of 648 g/m² h.     

Pervaporation dehydration of isopropanol with chitosan membranes

Homogeneous and composite chitosan based membranes were prepared by the solution casting technique. The membranes were investigated for the pervaporation dehydration of isopropanol-water systems. The effects of feed concentration and temperature on the separation performance of the membranes were studied. In terms of the pervaporation separation index (PSI), the composite membrane was more productive than the homogeneous membrane for pervaporation of feed with high isopropanol content. It was observed that permeation increased and the separation factor decreased with the temperature. Modification of the homogeneous chitosan membrane by chemical crosslinking with hexamethylene diisocyanate improved the permselectivity but reduced the permeation rate of the membrane.     

Comparison between the pervaporation and vapor permeation performances of polycarbonate membranes

The pervaporation and vapor permeation performance of symmetrical and asymmetrical polycarbonate membranes, prepared via a dry-phase inversion and wet-phase inversion methods, respectively, were studied by measuring the permeation rate and separation factor. It was found that the polymer concentration effect on the pervaporation performance for the symmetrical polycarbonate membrane was lower than that for the asymmetrical polycarbonate membrane. Compared with pervaporation, vapor permeation has a significantly increased separation factor with a decreased permeation rate for the symmetrical polycarbonate membrane. Water molecules preferentially dissolve into the symmetrical polycarbonate membrane and diffuse easily through the membrane.     

Pervaporation with chitosan membranes II. Blend membranes of chitosan and polyacrylic acid and comparison of homogeneous and composite membrane based on polyelectrolyte complexes of chitosan and polyacrylic acid for the separation of ethanol-water mixtures

Three different types of blend membranes based on chitosan and polyacrylic acid were prepared from homogeneous polymer solution and their performance on the pervaporation separation of water-ethanol mixtures was investigated. It was found that all membranes are highly water-selective. The temperature dependence of membrane permselectivity for the feed solutions of higher water content (>30 wt%) was unusual in that both permeability and separation factor increased with increase in temperature. This phenomenon might be explained from the aspect of activation energy and suggested that the sorption contribution to activation energy of permeation should not always be ignored when strong interaction occurs in the pervaporation membrane system.A comparison of pervaporation performance between composite and homogeneous membranes was also studied. Typical pervaporation results at 30°C for a 95 wt% ethanol aqueous solution were: for the homogeneous membrane, permeation flux = 33 g/m² h, separation factor = 2216; and for the composite membrane, permeation flux = 132 g/m² h, separation factor = 1008. A transport model consisting of dense layer and porous substrate in series was developed to describe the effect of porous substrate on pervaporation performance.     

Recovery of pyridine from aqueous solution by membrane pervaporation

Three different membranes, based on poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS), cation-exchange material and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) respectively, were tudied for the separation of pyridine-water mixtures by pervaporation. The PDMS membrane was preferentially permeable to pyridine and the other two were selective towards water. Three membranes showed different permeation performance, allowing the application of the technique to the separation of feeds of different composition. The temperature profile of the permeability suggests that it is possible to carry out the operation at an elevated temperature in order to achieve high productivity. A combination of the three types of membranes was designed for the production of anhydrous pyridine from dilute pyridine aqueous solution by pervaporation.     

SELECTIVE SEPARATION OF WATER-ETHANOL MIXTURES THROUGH COPOLYMERIC MEMBRANES: Ⅰ. ACRYLIC ACID AND ACRYLONITRILE COPOLYMER AND ITS IONIZED MEMBRANES

The copolymer of acrylic acid and acrylonitrile has been synthesized and pervaporation properties of the copolymeric membranes have been investigated. In order to elucidate the influence of membrane-permeate interaction on the pervaporation of water-ethanol mixtures and to prepare much improved membranes, the membranes have been treated with alkali metal, alkali earth metal and transition metal salt aqueous solutions. The treated membranes (ionized membranes) exhibited higher separation factors than the untreated membranes. The separation factors of various alkali metal cation membranes decreased in the following order : Li~+>Na~+>K~+, and the permeation rates showed an opposite tendency. The dependence of pervaporation behavior on the copolymer composition ,feed concentration and operating temperature have been studied with both ionized and non-ionized membranes. The apparent activation energies of water and ethanol permeation were calculated.     

ZSM-5分子筛填充壳聚糖膜的制备与性能研究

采用液相共混的方法制备了ZSM-5分子筛填充壳聚糖膜.扫描电镜表征表明分子筛在膜中分散均匀,膜表面没有明显缺陷.考察了填充膜在碳酸二甲酯/甲醇混合液中的溶胀和吸附行为,探讨了填充膜中分子筛含量及操作温度对渗透汽化膜分离性能的影响.结果表明膜优先吸附甲醇,其分离性能主要由溶解过程控制;随着膜中分子筛含量的增加,膜的溶胀度增大,渗透通量大幅度提高;渗透通量与操作温度符合Arrhenius关系式.与壳聚糖均质膜相比,ZSM-5分子筛填充壳聚糖膜对甲醇和碳酸二甲酯混合物具有更好的分离效果.     

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.     

Pervaporation performance of novel chitosan‐POSS hybrid membranes: Effects of POSS and operating conditions

Four types of polyhedral oligosilsesquioxane (POSS)–octaanion, octaammonium, octanitrophenyl, and octaaminophenyl–were incorporated into chitosan (CS) to fabricate inorganic–organic hybrid membranes. The hybrid membranes were employed for the pervaporation dehydration of ethanol aqueous solutions. The performance of the hybrid membranes was found to be influenced by the type and loading amount of POSS. In comparison with the neat CS membranes which showed a separation factor of 65.2 for 10 wt % water in the feed at 303 K, the hybrid membranes containing 5 wt % of octaanion and octaaminophenyl POSS showed high separation factors of 305.6 and 373.3, respectively. The effects of the operating conditions such as the feed composition and temperature on the pervaporation performance of the membranes were investigated. Activation energies for permeation in the membranes were estimated from Arrhenius relationship. The activation energies for ethanol permeation in the hybrid membranes were much higher than that in the CS membrane, which may account for the large enhancements in the selectivity of the hybrid membranes. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2010     

聚乙烯醇/纳米纤维素复合膜的渗透汽化性能及结构表征

将聚乙烯醇/纳米纤维素(PVA/NCC)复合膜应用于乙醇-水混合溶液的渗透汽化脱水过程,探讨了纳米纤维素对膜的溶胀性能、机械性能和渗透汽化性能的影响; 利用原子力显微镜(AFM)探测了纳米纤维素的形貌特征; 采用傅里叶变换红外光谱仪(FTIR)、扫描电镜(SEM)、差示扫描量热仪(DSC)和热重分析仪(TGA)对膜结构...     

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.     

壳聚糖膜的处理方法与其渗透汽化性能间的关系

对壳聚糖均质膜折脱酸处理、干燥方法与所得膜的渗透汽化性能间的关系进行了研究。结果表明，处理方法的不同直接影响到膜的透过、分离性能。用含３ｗｔ．％ＮａＯＨ的醇水溶液（乙醇／水＝５０／５０（ｗｔ．／ｗｔ．））进行脱酸处理的膜，其α水／乙醇值，在料液温度为５５－７５℃的范围内几乎不变。     

二次生长法制备高分离性能的PHI分子筛膜

通过二次生长法在α-Al2O3支撑体表面合成了PHI分子筛膜,考察了晶种合成方式、二次生长合成温度及时间对形成PHI分子筛膜的影响.采用X射线衍射(XRD)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)对合成膜进行表征.结果表明:载体表面合成出了PHI分子筛;二次生长法合成出的PHI分子筛膜连续、致密,膜厚约为20 μm.利用渗透汽化技术对甲醇、乙醇、异丙醇和叔丁醇等不同分子尺寸的醇/水体系进行分离性能的研究,同时考察原料液中水含量对所制备的PHI分子筛膜的分离性能的影响.结果表明:PHI分子筛膜对几种醇水体系都具有良好的分离效果,随着水含量的增加,水的渗透通量呈增大趋势,乙醇和甲醇的理想分离因子有所降低,异丙醇和叔丁醇的理想分离因子增大.     

Anti-trade-off in dehydration of ethanol by novel PVA/APTEOS hybrid membranes

Novel organic–inorganic hybrid membranes were prepared through sol–gel reaction of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) with γ-aminopropyl-triethoxysilane (APTEOS) for pervaporation (PV) separation of ethanol/water mixtures. The membranes were characterized by FTIR, EDX, WXRD and PALS. The amorphous region of the hybrid membranes increased with increasing APTEOS content, and both the free volume and the hydrophilicity of the hybrid membranes increased when APTEOS content was less than 5 wt%. The swelling degree of the hybrid membranes has been restrained in an aqueous solution owing to the formation of hydrogen and covalent bonds in the membrane matrix. Permeation flux increased remarkably with APTEOS content increasing, and water permselectivity increased at the same time, the trade-off between the permeation flux and water permselectivity of the hybrid membranes was broken. The sorption selectivity increased with increasing temperature, and decreased with increasing water content. In addition, the diffusion selectivity and diffusion coefficient of the permeants through the hybrid membranes were investigated. The hybrid membrane containing 5 wt% APTEOS has highest separation factor of 536.7 at 50 °C and permeation flux of 0.0355 kg m⁻² h⁻¹ in PV separation of 5 wt% water in the feed.     

聚环氧乙烷（PEO）／壳聚糖（CS）共混膜的醇－水渗透蒸发性能研究

研究了ＥｔＯＨ－Ｈ２Ｏ，ｎ－ＰｒＯＨ－Ｈ２Ｏ，ｉ－ＰｒＯＨ－Ｈ２Ｏ体系在ＣＳ膜和ＰＥＯ／ＣＳ共混膜中的渗透蒸发性能。讨论了料液温度、料液浓度、共混膜组成对分离性能的影响，结果发现ＰＥＯ的掺入能大大提高ｃｓ膜的渗透通量；而分离因子下降。同时从膜材料的聚集态结构出发对相关的渗透蒸发行为进行了讨论。对于ＰＥＯ／ＣＳ共混膜，膜内自由体积的大小是影响分离性能的主要因素，小分子在膜中的渗透蒸发行为主要是由扩散过程控制的。本文还研究了ＰＥＯ的掺入对壳聚塘膜强度的影响以及利用ＤＳＣ谱研究ＰＥＯ掺入后壳聚糖膜聚集态结构的变化。     

壳聚糖／褐藻酸钠聚离子复合膜的渗透汽化分离性能研究

以红外光谱和扫描电镜表征壳聚糖／褐藻酸钠聚离子复合膜的结构与表面形态。研究了该膜组成、料液浓度、温度等对乙醇－水溶液的渗透汽化分离性能的影响。实验结果表明，壳聚糖／褐藻酸钠聚离子复合膜不仅对乙醇－水溶液，而且对许多水溶性有机溶剂与水的溶液都具有很高的渗透汽化脱水的选择分离性能。     

Pervaporation separation of water–acetic acid mixtures through poly(vinyl alcohol)-silicone based hybrid membranes

Hybrid membranes were prepared using poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) via hydrolysis followed by condensation. The obtained membranes were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, wide-angle X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry. The remarkable decrease in degree of swelling was observed with increasing TEOS content in membranes and is attributed to the formation of hydrogen and covalent bonds in the membrane matrix. The pervaporation performance of these membranes for the separation of water–acetic acid mixtures was investigated in terms of feed concentration and the content of TEOS used as crosslinking agent. The membrane containing 1:2 mass ratio of PVA and TEOS gave the highest separation selectivity of 1116 with a flux of 3.33 × 10⁻² kg/m² h at 30 °C for 10 mass% of water in the feed. Except for membrane M-1, the observed values of water flux are close to the values of total flux in the investigated composition range, signifying that the developed membranes are highly water selective. From the temperature dependence of diffusion and permeation values, the Arrhenius apparent activation parameters have been estimated. The resulting activation energy values, obtained for water permeation being lower than those of acetic acid permeation values, suggest that the membranes have higher separation efficiency. The activation energy values calculated for total permeation and water permeation are close to each other for all the membranes except membrane M-1, signifying that coupled-transport is minimal as due to higher selective nature of membranes. Further, the activation energy values for permeation of water and diffusion of water are almost equivalent, suggesting that both diffusion and permeation contribute almost equally to the pervaporation process. The negative heat of sorption values (ΔH_s) for water in all the membranes suggests the Langmuir's mode of sorption.     

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.