Preparation of polymer of intrinsic microporosity composite membranes and their applications for butanol recovery

We fabricated novel composite membranes composed of a polymer of intrinsic microporosity (PIM-1) and carbon black (CB) nanoparticles functionalized with the silane coupling agent aminopropyl triethoxysilane to recover butanol from aqueous solutions by pervaporation (PV). Scanning electron microscopy showed that the composite membranes were dense and defect free and had good adhesion with substrates. Compared with the those of pristine PIM-1 membranes, the water contact angles of the composite membranes increased from around 86° to more than 90°; this confirmed the improvement of the hydrophobicity. The swelling degree of the 6 wt % CB-filled PIM-1 membranes dropped 23%; this indicated an increase in the swelling resistance. Furthermore, the PV results show experimentally that the incorporation of the functionalized CBs into the PIM-1 matrix considerably improved both the permeability and selectivity to butanol. At a 4 wt % CB content, the optimum separation performance, with a separation factor of 19.7 and a permeation flux of 1116 g m^?2 h^?1, was achieved in an aqueous solution containing 5 wt % butanol at 30°C. It was noteworthy that the as-fabricated membranes exhibited a good separation stability. This is a step forward in terms of continuous butanol production with hybrid membranes in fermentation processes. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 46912.