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     

The composition and yield of crude lipids obtained from soybeans by successive solvent extractions

Summary The composition and yield of the crude lipids obtained from soybeans by successive solvent extractions were determined for two solvents: Skellysolve F (boiling range, 35° to 58° C.) and Skellysolve B (boiling range, 63° to 70° C.). The crude lipids from the first and sixth Skellysolve F extractions showed a variation of 17.5 units in iodine number and of 23.42 per cent in phosphatides. Those from the first and fifth Skellysolve B extractions showed a variation of 10.1 units in iodine number and of 17.33 per cent in phosphatides. With each solvent the series of intermittent extractions removed approximately 97 per cent as much oil as did an analytical quantitative extraction using that same solvent. The variation in percentages of the saturated and unsaturated acids was determined and found to be small. No preferential extraction of any glyceride was found. The Skellysolve B removed about the same amount of unsaponifiable matter, and slightly more than twice the weight of phosphatides, as was extracted by the Skellysolve F. Presented before American Oil Chemists’ Society at New Orleans, Louisiana, May 15–16, 1941. A cooperative organization participated in by the Bureaus of Agricultural Chemistry and Engineering and Plant Industry of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, and the Agricultural Experiment Stations of the North Central States of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.     

Preparation and characterization of a novel positively charged nanofiltration membrane based on polysulfone

The goal of this study was to prepare positively charged nanofiltration (NF) membranes to remove cations from aqueous solutions. A composite NF membrane was fabricated by the modification of a polysulfone ultrafiltration support. The active top layer was formed by the interfacial crosslinking polymerization of poly(ethylene imine) (PEI) with p‐xylene dichloride (XDC). Then, it was quaternized by methyl iodide (MI) to form a perpetually positively charged layer. The chemical and morphological changes of the membrane surfaces were studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscopy. To optimize the membrane operation, the PEI solution concentration, PEI coating time, XDC concentration, crosslinking time, and MI concentration were optimized. Consequently, high water flux (5.4 L m^?2 h^?1 bar^?1) and CaCl₂ rejection (94%) values were obtained for the composite membranes at 4 bars and 30°C. The rejections of the NF membrane for different salt solutions, obtained from pH testing, followed the order Na₂SO₄ < MgSO₄ < NaCl < CaCl₂. The molecular weight cutoff was calculated by the retention of poly(ethylene glycol) solutions with different molecular weights, and finally, the stoke radius was calculated as 1.47 nm. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 41988.     

Hexafunctional poly(propylene glycol) based hydrogels for the removal of heavy metal ions

Two types of degradable poly(propylene glycol) (PPG) hydrogels that are suitable for the absorption of heavy metals have been presented. The PPG‐O‐P(O)Cl₂ fragments obtained by treating hexafunctional PPG with phosphorous oxychloride (POCl₃) react with 1,3‐propanediamine (PDA; Gel‐1 ) or PDA together with 1,2‐ethanedithiol ( Gel‐2 ), to yield cross‐linked and water‐swellable hydrogels in a one‐pot method. This protocol for the fabrication of PPG hydrogels exhibits promising advantages over prior methods including a short reaction time, mass‐production, easy separation, and high yield. A series of heavy metal ions were employed to test the adsorptive properties of the hydrogels. Gel‐2 shows better adsorption capacity than Gel‐1 for all the metal ions and the metal ions adsorption efficiency of the two types of hydrogels is in the order of Fe(III) > Pb(II) > Cd(II) > Zn(II) > Cu(II) > Ni(II) > Co(II) > Hg(II). The amounts of metal ions adsorbed increases with metal ion concentration and hydrogel dosage, but decreases with temperature. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 40610.     

Comparison of liquid-phase and methanol-swelling crosslinking processes of polyimide dense membrane for CO2/CH4 separation

To overcome the plasticization effect in polyimide membranes, many researchers have proposed crosslinking method. This can reduce an inter-segmental mobility by tightening and rigidifying the polymer chains. However, it is difficult to modify the whole polymer chains throughout the membrane because the reaction can be hindered by the diffusion rate of the crosslinker. In particular, it is hard for bulky crosslinker to penetrate a dense membrane with a small d-spacing. This study investigated the effect of crosslinking a dense Matrimid membrane with p-phenylenediamine (p-PDA) via two different crosslinking methods (i.e., methanol-swelling crosslinking process [M-SCP] and liquid-phase crosslinking process [L-PCP]). Most of the crosslinking reaction in M-SCP occurs on the membrane surface due to difficulty in penetration of the bulky p-PDA into the Matrimid dense membrane. In contrast, the L-PCP allows uniform crosslinking across the membrane. The membranes crosslinked using L-PCP showed excellent chemical resistance. Furthermore, the plasticization phenomenon was not observed in the membranes crosslinked using L-PCP with p-PDA more than 15%. Meanwhile, the membrane crosslinked using M-SCP exhibited poor plasticization and chemical resistance properties. These results showed that the L-PCP method can be more effective for the crosslinking of dense membrane to deliver both high plasticization and chemical resistance.     

Preparation and characterization of glutaraldehyde crosslinked chitosan nanofiltration membrane

In this article, we prepare chitosan (CS) membrane on polyacrylonitrile (PAN) ultrafiltration membrane, and utilize the protonated amine group (? NH₃⁺) on the CS to retain γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) in a solution with a pH condition below the amino acid isoelectric point, so as to separate the amino acid from a mixture with sodium acetate that simulates the amino acid fermentation broth. To improve the acid resistance of the composite membrane, we chelate the amine groups on the CS by copper sulfate first, then crosslink the hydroxyl groups in glutaraldehyde solution, and remove the copper ion in hydrochloric acid finally to release the amine groups. This crosslinked CS/PAN composite membrane achieves 95% GABA rejection in pH 4.69 solution under the operation pressure of 0.2 MPa, while over 90% of the sodium acetate permeates the membrane. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

Properties and pervaporation performance of poly(vinyl alcohol) membranes crosslinked with various dianhydrides

In this work, three dianhydrides with similar chemical structures, 3,3′,4,4′‐benzophenone tetracarboxylic dianhydride (BTDA), 4,4′‐oxydiphthalic anhydride (ODPA), and pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA), are employed for the crosslinking modification of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) membranes for ethanol dehydration via pervaporation. The changes in crosslinking degree, surface hydrophilicity, and glass‐transition temperature are investigated and compared. Compared to the pure PVA membrane, all crosslinked membranes show higher fluxes but lower separation factors, because of the higher fractional free volume and the lower hydrophilicity by the crosslinking of the PVA matrix, respectively. In addition, all crosslinked PVA membranes exhibit similar flux, and the separation factor presents a decreasing order of PVA/PMDA‐2 > PVA/ODPA‐2 > PVA/BTDA‐2, which is in the reverse order of their hydrophilicity, probably because of the reduction in the swelling resistance. With the PMDA content increasing from 0.01 to 0.04 mol/(kg PVA) in the PVA/PMDA crosslinked membranes, the crosslinking degree is enhanced and the hydrogen bonding is weakened, resulting in a flux increase from 120.2 to 190.8 g m^?2 h^?1, but the separation factor declines from 306 to 58. This work is believed to provide useful insight on the chemical modification of PVA membranes for pervaporation and other membrane‐based separation applications. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135, 46159.     

Ethanol production from sweet sorghum residual

In this work, the ethanol production from sweet sorghum residue was studied. Sweet sorghum residue was hydrolyzed with phosphoric acid under mild conditions. The liquid hydrolysate was fermented by Pachysolen tannophilus, and the hydrolysis residue was fermented by the simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) using Saccharomyces cerevisiae with cellulase (60 FPU/g dry materials). Orthogonal experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of main reaction condition factors, such as temperature, acid concentration, time and dry-matter content, on the reducing sugar yield. The results show that the optimal reaction conditions should be 120°C, 80 g/L, 80 min and 10%, respectively. Under these conditions, 0.3024 g reducing sugar/g dry material was obtained. The liquid hydrolysate was then fermented by P.tannophilus with the highest ethanol concentration of 14.5 g/L. At a water-insoluble solid concentration of 5%, 5.4 g/L ethanol was obtained after 12 h of SSF. The total ethanol yield was 0.147 g/g dry material, which would be beneficial for the application of ethanol production from sweet sorghum residue. __________ Translated from Journal of Beijing University of Chemical Technology, 2007, 34(6): 637-639, 652 [译自: 北京化工大学学报]     

Optimization of coating solution viscosity of hollow fiber‐supported polydimethylsiloxane membrane for CO2/H2 separation

To optimize the CO₂ permeation and CO₂/H₂ separation performance of hollow fiber‐supported polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membranes, the effect of the viscosity of the PDMS coating solution on surface morphologies, thickness of PDMS layer, and solution intrusion into surface pores of hollow fiber supports was investigated. Increases in both stirring time and standing time could increase the viscosity of the PDMS solution. The PDMS layer thickness increased when the coating solution viscosity increased, whereas the surface roughness of the PDMS layer markedly decreased and then slightly changed. Moreover, when the stirring time of the PDMS coating solution was 9 min and the standing time was increased from 2 min to 25 min, the CO₂ permeance first decreased, then increased to ～2250 GPU probably due to the decreased intrusion depth, and finally decreased because of the substantially increased thickness of the PDMS layer. However, the CO₂/H₂ selectivity increased to 3.4 with an increase in coating solution viscosity. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135, 45765.     

Development of stable and active PVA‐PSSA/SA‐PVA catalytic composite membrane for esterification enhancement

An active and stable catalytic composite membrane (CCM), poly(vinyl alcohol)–poly(styrene sulfonic acid)/sodium alginate–poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA‐PSSA/SA‐PVA), was prepared to enhance the esterification of ethanol and propionic acid. The morphologies and crystal structures of the CCMs were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and X‐ray diffraction. The effects of catalytic layer thickness, mass ratio of PVA to PSSA, concentration of catalytic layer solution, ratio of reaction volume to membrane area, and molar ratio of propionic acid to ethanol were discussed. The pervaporation results showed that the flux of CCM increased from 118 to 320 g m^?2 h^?1 compared with the SA‐PVA membrane because of the close affinity and low resistance of PSSA to water. After crosslinking with 3‐aminopropylmethyldiethoxysilane, the CCMs had good catalytic activities. The acid conversion reached 92.8% at 75 °C in 12 h, and the stabilization of the CCM was greatly improved. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135, 46514.     

Gasoline desulfurization by a TiO2‐filled ethyl cellulose pervaporation membrane

The TiO₂ nanoparticles were incorporated into an ethyl cellulose (EC) matrix to improve the pervaporation (PV) performance of the membrane for gasoline desulfurization. The microstructures of different EC membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X‐ray and transmission electron microscopy. The PV experiments showed that the hybrid membrane of EC/TiO₂ demonstrated an improved permeation flux (J ) of 7.58 kg m^?2 h^?1 and a sulfur enrichment factor (α) of 3.13 in comparison with the pure EC membrane, with a J of 3.73 kg m^?2 h^?1 and an α of 3.69. In addition, the effects of the operating conditions, including the operating temperature, layer thickness, crosslinking time, feed flow rate, and feed sulfur content level, on the PV performance of the EC/TiO₂ membrane were investigated. Under a 100 mL/min feed flow rate and a 85 μg/g sulfur content, J of the 10 μm thick membrane increased to 7.58 kg m^?2 h^?1 with α of 3.13 compared to the pure EC membrane (3.73 kg m^?2 h^?1, 3.69) at 80 °C with 30 min of crosslinking time. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 : 134 , 43409.     

Positively charged hollow‐fiber composite nanofiltration membrane prepared by quaternization crosslinking

Poly(N,N‐dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA) can be crosslinked by interfacial polymerization to develop a positively charged dense network structure. According to this mechanism, a positively charged hollow‐fiber composite nanofiltration (NF) membrane was prepared by quaternization to achieve a crosslinked PDMAEMA gel layer on the outer surface of polysulfone hollow‐fiber ultrafiltration (UF) membranes with a PDMAEMA aqueous solution as a coating solution and p‐xylylene dichloride as an agent. The preparation conditions, including the PDMAEMA concentration, content of additive in the coating solution, catalyzer, alkali, crosslinking temperature, and hollow‐fiber substrate membrane, were studied. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to characterize the structure of the membranes. This membrane had a rejection to inorganic salts in aqueous solution. The rejection of MgSO₄ (2 g/L aqueous solution at 0.7 MPa and 25°C) was above 98%, and the flux was about 19.5 L m^?2 h^?1. Moreover, the composite NF membranes showed good stability in the water‐phase filtration process. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

Super-hydrophilic electrospun PVDF/PVA-blended nanofiber membrane for microfiltration with ultrahigh water flux

This work provides a novel approach to improve not only water flux but also fouling resistance of Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes. PVDF/Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)-blended nanofiber membranes were prepared via electrospinning method. The structure and performance of blended nanofiber membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), attenuated total reflection-Fourier-transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), contact angle measurement, tensile mechanical measurement, and filtration experiments. These results indicate that PVA was uniformly blend in the PVDF matrix. This blended nanofiber membranes with the ridge-and-valley structure and bicontinuous phase exhibited the hydrophilic performance and super-wettability, which is reflected in a drop of water fully spread within 1.44 s. Filtration experiments showed that the blended nanofiber membranes have ultrahigh flux and low irreversible fouling ratio. In general, this work enhances the possibility of hydrophilic modification of hydrophobic PVDF membranes. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48416.     

Highly porous,water-swellable,and reusable chelating polymeric gels for heavy metal ion removal from aqueous waste

Sequestration and removal of heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions pose multiple challenges. Ease of synthesis, high adsorption capacity and ease of regeneration are important considerations in the design of polymeric adsorbent materials developed for this purpose. To meet this objective, a new approach was used to design and synthesize a highly porous polystyrene-based resin (IDASR15) bearing iminodiacetate functional groups in every repeat unit by free radical polymerization with N, N'-methylenebisacrylamide as crosslinker followed by base hydrolysis. The physiochemical chemical properties of the resin were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope, equilibrium swelling value (ESV) and thermogravimetric analysis. Metal uptake capacity of IDASR15 towards low concentrations of various toxic heavy metal ions such as Cu²⁺, Cd²⁺, Mn²⁺, Zn²⁺, Pb²⁺, Ni²⁺, Co²⁺, Co³⁺, Cr³⁺, Fe²⁺, Fe³⁺, and Al³⁺ were investigated from their aqueous solution by batch method and found to be 0.943–2.802 mmol/g. The maximum capacity was 2.802 mmol/g obtained for Cu²⁺ ion at pH 5. The potential for regeneration and reuse has been demonstrated with Cu²⁺ ion by batch and column methods. The reported results suggest that IDASR15 is a highly efficient and porous complexing agent for commonly found toxic metal ions in aqueous streams with a high ESV of 68.55 g of water/1.0 g of IDASR15. It could also be reused ~99.5% of adsorption efficiency which is very promising and holds significant potential for waste-water treatment applications.     

Hybrid composites based on technical cellulose from rice husk

We introduced the preparation of hybrid composites using technical cellulose as a matrix material from rice husks with a natural SiO₂ content from 0% to 19.4%. In this work, the physicochemical characteristics of the resulting hybrid composites have been investigated. The presence of Si? O? C chemical bonds in the resulting hybrid composites was determined by infrared spectroscopy. Microscopic analysis showed the complete removal of the mineral component and lignin from the cell wall of the rice husk fibers. This allows obtaining of an expanded surface of the fibers (101.7 m²/g) with uniform distribution of the TiO₂ aggregates. It could be shown that with content increasing of natural silicon dioxide in the hybrid composite the decomposition rate of H₂O₂ also increases. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135, 45796.     

Production of a low‐cost scavenger resin to capture aldehydes and ketones in solutions

Over the past years, polymer‐supported reagents have been extensively studied and used in various applications. One class of such reagents is called “scavengers,” which can be used to easily eliminate compounds in a solution. The present work describes the production of a resin that can be used for scavenging ketones and aldehydes using low‐cost reagents and simple reaction steps, named here Amb15‐Iso. This resin is obtained by reacting a low‐cost commercial sulfonyl resin, Amberlyst‐15, with isoniazid, a drug used for the treatment of tuberculosis. Acetone and isobutyraldehyde were used as carbonyl compound models. The reactions were monitored in‐line by ATR‐FTIR and results showed that the polarity of the solvent influences the kinetics of the production of the resin and water proved to be the fastest solvent. For the scavenging of acetone and isobutyraldehyde, two factors showed to have an impact in the amount of compounds captured: the polarity of the solvent and the solubility of water in the solvent. The capacity of scavenging acetone in water varied from 0.11 to 0.28 mmol per gram of resin, depending on the initial acetone concentration. The equilibrium of this reaction was modeled and the equilibrium constant was calculated to be 0.63 ± 0.07 L mol^?1. The resin was also recycled and tested in a second round of scavenging and results showed that there was not much difference between the new resin and the recycled one, proving that the Amberlyst‐15 could be reused for a second cycle of scavenging. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 42291.     

Gas‐separation properties of amine‐crosslinked polyimide membranes modified by amine vapor

The modification of a polyimide (PI) membrane by aromatic amine vapor was performed in this work to increase the crosslinking of the membrane and to study the effect on gas permeability and the corresponding selectivity. The single‐gas permeability of the membranes at 35 °C was probed for H₂, O₂, N₂, CO₂, and CH₄. From the relationship between the combinations of gases and ideal permselectivities, this study showed that amine‐crosslinked PI membranes tended to increase gas permselectivities exponentially with the increasing difference in gas kinetic diameter. Moreover, this study illustrated that the permeability of the membranes was influenced by the formation rate of amine‐crosslinked networks or chemical structures after the reaction. The membranes had the highest level of permselectivities among crosslinked PI membranes for O₂/N₂, and the H₂/CH₄ permselectivity increased 26 times after vapor modification. Furthermore, the modification method that used aromatic amine vapor produced thin and strongly modified layers. These findings indicate that modification is an advantageous technique for improving gas‐separation performance, even considering thinning. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134, 44569.     

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     

Preparation of a polyimide nanofiltration membrane for lubricant solvent recovery

Polyimide (PI) membrane has been proven to be an efficient approach for solvent recovery. However, the inherent fragility of the PI membrane limits the range of separation conditions and process economics. In this study, copolyimides were synthesized from 3,3′,4,4′‐benzophenone–tetracarboxylic dianhydride (BTDA) and 4,4′‐biamino‐3,3′‐dimethyldiphenyl–methane (DMMDA) by chemical imidization in a two‐step procedure. Then, a PI nanofiltration (NF) membrane was prepared through a phase‐inversion process for solvent recovery from lube oil filtrates. The results indicated that the immersion of the PI (BTDA–DMMDA) NF membrane in a 1,6‐diaminohexane/ethanol crosslinking agent solution carried on the chemical crosslinking modification, which could effectively improve the solvent resistance of the NF membrane. Moreover, the addition of inorganic salt in the polymer solution further enhanced the solvent resistance and pressure resistance of the membrane, which was favorable for the solvent recovery. The lubricant rejection was above 93%, and the solvent flux was about 30 L m^?2 h^?1 with the NF membrane prepared in optimum conditions, and this membrane showed great potential for future development in the application of solvent recovery from lube oil filtrates. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 40338.     

Crosslinked polystyrene beads modified with polar groups for the separation of aromatic/aliphatic hydrocarbons

Crosslinked polystyrene (CPS) beads modified with polar groups for the separation of aromatic/aliphatic hydrocarbons were successfully prepared. The synthesized beads were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. The effects of the crosslinking agents and polar groups on the swelling and selectivity performances toward n‐heptane/toluene mixtures were studied. Impressively, the results indicated that the sulfone‐modified CPS beads obtained a high toluene selectivity. Further adsorption tests with a variety of aromatic/aliphatic hydrocarbons were carried out at 50°C with initial aromatic concentrations of 13 wt %, and the results showed that the beads had a preferential selectivity for aromatic hydrocarbons, in particular, a higher separation factor of 6.76 for benzene/cyclohexane mixtures. We expect that modified CPS beads will serve as an effective material for the selective separation of aromatic/aliphatic hydrocarbons in chemical and petrochemical fields. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 40156.