Potential of DMSO as greener solvent for PES ultra‐ and nanofiltration membrane preparation

In this article, the performance of polyethersulfone (PES) ultra‐ and nanofiltration membranes, prepared with the non‐toxic solvent dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), was investigated. The membranes were prepared by immersion precipitation via phase inversion. Experimental results proved that DMSO is a better alternative to N‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidone (NMP) as solvent for PES ultrafiltration membranes as the membranes had a higher permeability and rejection of bovine serum albumin (BSA). An explanation was found based on experimental cloud point data and scanning electron microscopy images showing the morphology. The rejection of BSA and rose Bengal (RB) was proportional to the polymer concentration. On the contrary, the permeability decreased with increasing polymer concentration. For a casting thickness of 250 µm, an optimal balance between permeability and rejection of macromolecules for ultrafiltration was found at 24 wt % PES. The permeability was inversely proportional to the casting thickness, but a small decrease in rejection was observed when lowering the thickness. A good balance between permeability and rejection of RB was found, using a reference nanofiltration membrane of 28.5 wt % PES with 150 µm casting thickness. This membrane achieved a RB rejection of 95.3% and a pure water flux of 2.03 L m^?2 h^?1 bar^?1. The membrane thickness and polymer concentration did not have a clear influence on the hydrophilicity of the membranes. It can be concluded that DMSO is a benign alternative as compared to traditional solvents such as NMP and also results in better PES membrane performances. DMSO is a perfectly suitable solvent for ultrafiltration applications and has potential to be used for nanofiltration applications. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135, 46494.     

Sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone)‐induced porous poly(ether sulfone) blend membranes for the separation of proteins and metal ions

Asymmetric ultrafiltration (UF) membranes were prepared by the blending of poly(ether sulfone) (PES) and sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) polymers with N,N′‐dimethylformamide solvent by the phase‐inversion method. SPEEK was selected as the hydrophilic polymer in a blend with different composition of PES and SPEEK. The solution‐cast PES/SPEEK blend membranes were homogeneous for all of the studied compositions from 100/0 to 60/40 wt % in a total of 17.5 wt % polymer and 82.5 wt % solvent. The presence of SPEEK beyond 40 wt % in the casting solution did not form membranes. The prepared membranes were characterized for their UF performances, such as pure water flux, water content, porosity, and membrane hydraulic resistance, and morphology and melting temperature. We estimated that the pure water flux of the PES/SPEEK blend membranes increased from 17.3 to 85.6 L m^?2 h^?1 when the concentration of SPEEK increased from 0 to 40 wt % in the casting solution. The membranes were also characterized their separation performance with proteins and metal‐ion solutions. The results indicate significant improvement in the performance characteristics of the blend membranes with the addition of SPEEK. In particular, the rejection of proteins and metal ions was marginally decreased, whereas the permeate flux was radically improved. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Effect of hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether additive on the structure,morphology, and performance of polysulfone flat sheet ultrafiltration membrane

In this work, effects of hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether (PEGME) 5000 additive on the structure, morphology, and performance of polysulfone (PSF) membrane have been investigated. The membranes are prepared with direct blending of PEGME5000 (0–9 wt %) with two compositions of PSF (12 and 15 wt %) into N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone and further characterized in terms of morphology, structure, fouling, and ultrafiltration performance. The ternary phase diagram is plotted to investigate the thermodynamic stability of the system. Moreover, protein adsorption tests are conducted using bovine serum albumin (BSA) to see the effect of PEGME5000 on surface hydrophilicity. The ultrafiltration experiments are performed using humic acid (HA) solution and oil-in-water (o/w) emulsion. The result showed that, the contact angle decreased from 64° to 46° and from 67.6° to 49° for 12M and 15M membranes, respectively, indicating an improved hydrophilicity. The 12M and 15M membranes with 9 wt % of PEGME5000 have the lowest BSA adsorption due to highest antifouling property. The maximum permeability was obtained 0.72 and 0.51 L/m² h kPa for 12M5 and 15M3, respectively, due to maximum porosity which is also supported by the morphological result. In HA permeation, 12M5 and 15M3 achieved a maximum Flux _RR around 0.95 and 0.91, respectively, which was remarkably higher compared to 0.61 and 0.62 Flux _RR of 12M0 and 15M0. Also, PEGME5000 significantly affected the structure and morphology of the membranes. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47163.     

Pervaporation of water/alcohol mixtures through chitosan/cellulose acetate composite hollow‐fiber membranes

For the purpose of separating aqueous alcohol by the use of pervaporation technique, a composite membrane of chitosan (CT) dip‐coated cellulose acetate (CA) hollow‐fiber membranes, CT‐d‐CA, was investigated. The effects of air‐gap distance in the spinning of CA hollow‐fiber membranes, chitosan concentration, and sorts of aqueous alcohol solutions on the pervaporation performances were studied. Compared with unmodified CA hollow‐fiber membrane, the CT‐d‐CA composite hollow‐fiber membrane effectively increases the permselectivity of water. The thickness of coating layer increases with an increase in chitosan concentration. As the concentration of chitosan solution increased, the permeation rate decreased and the concentration of water in the permeate increased. In addition, the effects of feed composition and feed solution temperature on the pervaporation performances were also investigated. The permeation rate and water content in permeate at 25°C for a 90 wt % aqueous isopropanol solution through the CT‐d‐CA composite hollow‐fiber membrane with a 5‐cm air‐gap distance spun, 2 wt % chitosan dip‐coated system were 169.5 g/m² h and 98.9 wt %, respectively. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 94: 1562–1568, 2004     

Fabrication of low-cost ceramic ultrafiltration membrane made from bentonite clay and its application for soluble dyes removal

This work reports the preparation and the characterization of low-cost ultrafiltration bentonite membrane deposited on ceramic perlite support. The bentonite layer was obtained by spin-coating process of colloidal solution with different bentonite contents ranging from 0.25 to 1.50 wt.%, followed by sintering at 500 °C. It was confirmed that optimized membrane prepared with 0.75 wt.% of bentonite is homogeneous and exhibits a good adhesion on perlite support. Furthermore, the membrane has a thickness of 6 μm, a pore size of 13 nm and a permeability of 30 L/h.m².bar. In addition, the filtration performance of bentonite membrane was evaluated by tangential filtration of Direct Red 80 and Rhodamine B solutions under pressure of 4 bar. The effect of filtration time and initial feed concentration on flux and rejection was studied and showed that the rejection of Direct Red 80 and Rhodamine B could achieve value of 97.0 and 80.1 % respectively.     

Effect of embedding MWCNT-g-GO with PVC on the performance of PVC membranes for oily wastewater treatment

Abstract

In this work, polyvinyl chloride/multi-walled carbon nanotube-grafted-graphene oxide (PVC/MWCNT-g-GO) membranes were fabricated by employing a classical phase inversion method for use in the Al-Dura Refinery (Baghdad, Iraq) wastewater treatment. The effects of MWCNT-g-GO contents on the properties and performance of PVC/MWCNT-g-GO membranes (i.e., 0.0599, 0.119, and 0.219?wt.%) were investigated. Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), contact angle (CA), porosity, and mechanical properties were used to characterize the MWCNT-g-GO and composite membranes. The membrane performance was characterized by liquid permeation flux and chemical oxygen demand (COD) rejection. The SEM and AFM results showed significant effects of MWCNT-g-GO on the structural morphology of the membranes. Also, it was found that the addition of a 0.119?wt.% MWCNT-g-GO membrane greatly improved the CA and porosity, from 74.5° to 13.9° and from 69.3% to 81.4%, respectively. Adding 0.219?wt.% of MWCNT-g-GO to the casting solution produced a major positive impact in the membrane mechanical properties. With 0.119?wt.% of MWCNT-g-GO (e.g., 254?L/m²·h), the membrane fostered increases in the water permeation flux that were 66% greater than when using the neat PVC (e.g., 153?L/m²·h). The COD rejection of the prepared membranes also improved significantly, from 60% for neat PVC to 88.9% after adding 0.119?wt.% of MWCNT-g-GO.     

Effects of mixed solvents and PVDF types on performances of PVDF microporous membranes

Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) microporous flat membranes were cast with different kinds of PVDFs and four mixed solvents [trimethyl phosphate (TMP)–N,N‐dimethylacetamide (DMAc), triethyl phosphate (TEP)–DMAc, tricresyl phosphate (TCP)–DMAc, and tri‐n‐butyl phosphate (TBP)–DMAc]. The effects of different commercial PVDFs (Solef® 1015, FR 904, Kynar 761, Kynar 741, Kynar 2801) on membrane morphologies and membrane performances of PVDF/TEP–DMAc/PEG200 system were investigated. The membrane morphologies were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The membrane performances in terms of pure water flux, rejection, porosity, and mean pore radius were measured. The membrane had the high flux of 143.0 ± 0.9 L m^?2 h^?1 when the content of TMP in the TMP–DMAc mixed solvent reached 60 wt %, which was 2.89 times that of the membrane cast with DMAc as single solvent and was 3.36 times that of the membrane cast with TMP as single solvent. Using mixed solvent with different solvent solubility parameters, different morphologies of PVDF microporous membranes were obtained. TMP–DMAc mixed solvent and TEP–DMAc mixed solvent indicated the stronger solvent power to PVDF due to the lower solubility parameter difference of 1.45 MPa^1/2 and the prepared membranes showed the faster precipitation rate and the higher flux. The less macrovoids of the membrane prepared with TEP (60 wt %)–DMAc (40 wt %) as mixed solvent contributed to the higher elongation ratio of 96.61% ± 0.41%. Therefore, using TEP(60 wt %)–DMAc (40 wt %) as mixed solvent, the casting solution had the better solvent power to PVDF, and the membrane possessed the excellent mechanical property. The microporous membranes prepared from casting solutions with different commercial PVDFs exhibited similar morphology, but the water flux increased with the increment of polymer solution viscosity. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Morphological and structural formation of the regenerated cellulose membranes recovered from its cuprammonium solution using aqueous sulfuric acid

Morphological and structural formation of the regenerated cellulose membranes from its cuprammonium hydroxide solution by acid coagulation was investigated. Scanning electron microscopic observation revealed that the morphology of the membranes changed drastically as functions of both the cellulose concentration in the original cellulose solution C_Cell and the concentration of sulfuric acid as a coagulant C_H2SO4. It was found that at a constant polymer concentration (8 wt %) the membrane prepared by using 5 wt % aqueous sulfuric acid exhibits higher water flux, far smaller swelling anisotropy parameter L_t, and larger porosity P_r with a thinner skin structure, and these parameters were proven to be associated with lower (11 0) crystal plane orientation coefficient f_{∥(11 0)} compared with those for the membranes obtained by aqueous sulfuric acid with more than 10 wt %. On the other hand, at constant coagulant concentration (10 wt %) the membrane prepared by using the polymer solution with 5 wt % shows far greater P_r with practically no distinct skin structure; hence, a higher flux. The drastic changes in the morphology and structural parameters as functions of C_Cell and C_H2SO4 were found to be well correlated with abrupt changes in material transportation (copper ion, ammonium ion, and water) from the polymer solution to aqueous coagulants as a function of C_Cell and C_H2SO4. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 72: 1669–1678, 1999     

Calix[4]arene‐filled poly dimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membranes for the pervaporative removal of benzene from dilute aqueous solution

In this article, tert‐butylcalix [4]arene (CA)‐filled poly dimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membranes (CA‐f‐PDMS) were prepared for pervaporative removal of benzene from aqueous solution. In comparison with unfilled PDMS membrane, CA‐f‐PDMS membranes showed higher permselectivity towards benzene due to the inclusion interaction between benzene and CA. The separation factor increased from 3275 to 5604 when the CA content varies from 0 to 3 wt % in the PDMS membrane. On the other hand, the normalized permeation rate of benzene (NPR_b) decreased with the increase of the degree of crystallization of the membranes due to the crystallinity of CA. The membrane with 1 wt % CA content had the highest degree of crystallization and thus the lowest NPR_b, whereas the membrane with 3 wt % CA content was the opposite. Furthermore, the addition of CA increased the elastic modulus of membranes slightly. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 90–100, 2006     

Separation of Ethylene Glycol/Water Mixtures using NaA Zeolite Membranes

Inorganic membranes and particularly zeolite membranes are usually used for the dehydration of organic solvents by pervaporation (PV). This work reports an experimental study on the PV dehydration of ethylene glycol (EG)/water mixtures using commercial nanoporous NaA zeolite membranes. The concentration range investigated (C_EG > 70 wt %) was selected according to existing industrial requirements. The recirculation flow rate was kept at a value of 1.5 L/min. The fluxes and separation factors were monitored as the dehydration proceeded. In addition, the activation energy of permeation (E_a) was calculated. The effect of temperature was investigated in the range 50–70 °C. The results obtained demonstrated the successful performance of the membrane for the dehydration of EG/water mixtures. It was observed that at 70 °C and with 70 wt % initial EG concentration, larger fluxes and separation factors could be obtained, i.e., 0.94 kg m^–2h^–1 and 1177, respectively. The Pervaporation Separation Index (PSI) of the membrane was found to be high compared to that of polymeric membranes.     

Effects of nucleating agents on the morphologies and performances of poly(vinylidene fluoride) microporous membranes via thermally induced phase separation

The effects of nucleating agents on the morphology and performance of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) microporous membranes via thermally induced phase separation were investigated. The nucleating agents studied were dicyclohexyl benzene amide (TMB‐5), 2,2‐methylene bis(4,6‐tertiary butyl phenol) sodium phosphate (TMP‐1), and 1,3 : 2,4‐di‐p‐methylbenzylidene sorbitol (DM–LO). Light transmittance experiments and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were performed to obtain phase diagrams of PVDF/tributyl citrate/di(2‐ethylhexyl) phthalate/nucleating agent doped solutions. The morphology and performance of the prepared PVDF microporous membranes were characterized with scanning electron microscopy and microfiltration experiments. The results show that the thermodynamics of liquid–liquid phase separation were not affected by the addition of the nucleating agents, but solid–liquid phase separation was influenced. The system with 0.3 wt % TMB‐5 had the fastest crystallization rate and a better nucleation ability. The PVDF microporous membranes had a partly closed, lacy bicontinuous structure with TMP‐1 and DM–LO, whereas the membrane with 0.3 wt % TMB‐5 had an interconnected bicontinuous structure. The pore size distribution became narrower with the addition of nucleating agent. With 0.3 wt % TMB‐5, the membrane had the minimum mean pore size (0.095 μm), a porosity of 80.3%, and a pure water flux of 270 L·m^?2·h^?1; these values were higher than those of the pure PVDF membrane. The performances of the membranes decreased with additions of TMB‐5 of greater than 0.3 wt %. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

Polyethyleneimine‐grafted membranes for simultaneously adsorbing heavy metal ions and rejecting suspended particles in wastewater

Heavy metal ions (HMIs) in wastewater can be removed by polyethyleneimine (PEI) adsorption, however, it is difficult to recycle PEI macromolecules from their mixture with suspended particles in wastewater. A novel HMIs adsorption technique with renewable PEI‐grafted porous membranes was developed. PEI molecules were dispersed with high specific area and structured morphology, which allowed HMIs and suspended particles to be retained separately at different locations of the membrane, with the former adsorbed in matrix and the latter rejected on surface. The membranes with the optimized PEI loading ratio of 30 k wt % behaved excellently with microsphere rejection and Co(II) adsorption reaching 98.5% and 51.0 mg/g, respectively. They successfully decreased Co(II) concentration from 3.0 mg/L to the allowable discharge standard (0.5 mg/L), even with an enhanced flux of 6200 L/m²/h at 0.12 MPa under the cyclic tests. Overall, PEI‐grafted membrane adsorption is highly efficient for removing HMIs and suspended particles simultaneously from wastewater. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 4541–4548, 2017     

Optimizing the incorporation of silica nanoparticles in polysulfone/poly(vinyl alcohol) membranes with response surface methodology

The addition of silica nanoparticles and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) to polysulfone (PSF) membranes was used to modify the membrane morphology and enhance membrane performance. The central composite design of the response surface methodology was used to predict the maximum permeability and real salt rejection (R_real) of the PSF membranes. The factors affecting the permeability and R_real values of the PSF membranes were the silica (0–12 wt % PSF) and PVA (0–2 wt % PSF) contents. The optimized responses, membrane permeability, and R_real obtained experimentally were 61.9260 L m⁻² h⁻¹ bar⁻¹ and 97.5850%, respectively, with deviation from the predicted values of 34.72 and 15.84%, respectively. In the further characterization, the contact angle results showed that PVA was important in stabilizing the nanoparticle surfaces to prevent agglomeration in the polymeric matrix. The tensile strength test confirmed that the addition of silica nanoparticles improved the mechanical strength of the PSF membranes. However, the addition of PVA had a weakening effect on the mechanical strength of the PSF membranes. The addition of silica nanoparticles and PVA affected the typical asymmetric structures of the PSF membrane less, as shown in the scanning electron micrographs. This may have been due to the good incorporation of additives in the PSF membranes, as observed from the energy‐dispersive X‐ray and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy results. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011 Liver Transpl, 2011. © 2011 AASLD.     

Preparation and performance of poly(vinyl butyral) membrane for ultrafiltration

Ultrafiltration membrane was prepared from poly(vinyl butyral). The effects of membrane thickness, polymer concentration, evaporation time, and evaporation temperature, etc., on the performance of the resulting membranes have been studied. Dimethylacetamide was used as a casting solvent. The membrane formed by casting the polymer from a 15 wt % solution and evaporation at 25°C for 30 s had a flux value of 250 cm³ / cm² h (4.8 kg/cm², 26°C) at 92.9% rejection level for dextran sodium sulfate (average mol. wt. 550,000) separation. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Preparation of bi‐continuous poly(acrylonitrile‐co‐methyl acrylate) microporous membranes by a thermally induced phase separation method

Poly(acrylonitrile‐co‐methyl acrylate) [P(AN‐MA)] flat microfiltration membranes were successfully prepared via the thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) method, by using low polar caprolactam (CPL) and methoxypolyethylene glycol 550 (MPEG 550) as the mixed diluent. In this work, P(AN‐MA) membranes exhibit bi‐continuous networks, porous surfaces, high porosity, and big pore size, when membrane fabricated from a high MPEG 550 content, low P(AN‐MA) concentration, and small cooling rate, it can be dry state preservation and do not need to be impregnated by any solvent. When the ternary system was composed of 15 wt % P(AN‐MA), 12.5 wt % CPL, and 87.5 wt % MPEG 550, formed at 25 °C air bath, membrane has the highest water flux of 4420 L m^?2 h^?1. The obtained P(AN‐AN) membrane displays a high carbonic black ink rejection ranging from 83.7 to 98.5 wt %. Moreover, P(AN‐MA) polymer not only retains the advantages of PAN but also reduces the polar component from 16.2 to 10.77 MPa^0.5. It can be used membrane matrix to obtain pore structure and excellent mechanical property membrane via TIPS. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135, 46173.     

Studies on Cellulose Acetate/Low Cyclic Dimmer Polysulfone Blend Ultrafiltration Membranes and their Applications

Abstract

Flat sheet ultrafiltration membranes from cellulose acetate (CA)/low cyclic dimer polysulfone (LCD PSf) were prepared by a phase inversion method. N, N′‐Dimethyl formamide and different molecular weight of polyethylene glycol (PEG 200, PEG 400, and PEG 600) were used as solvent and pore‐forming additive, respectively. The membranes were characterized in terms of pure water flux, water content, porosity, membrane hydraulic resistance, and morphology. The pure water flux was found to reach the highest value of 181.82 Lm^?2h^?1 at 5 wt.% PEG of 600 molecular weight and 10 wt.% LCD PSf content in the blended solution for membrane preparation. SEM micrographs indicated that the addition of PEG into the CA/LCD PSf solution changes the inner structure of the membrane. The influence of filtration time and applied pressure on membrane permeability was examined by copper/polyethylenimine complex rejection studies. With increase in filtration time, the rejection of the copper/polyethylenimine complex decreased and the results were discussed.     

Bentonite-stabilized CDA/CTA membranes: I. Improved long-term transport properties

Organophilic-modified bentonites of montmorrillonit origin were incorporated into casting solutions of CDA/CTA blend membranes in concentrations up to 2000 ppm. Membrane preparation followed the well-known phase inversion process of Loeb—Sourirajan and Cannon—Saltonstall. Properties of membranes were characterized by short-term and long-term reverse osmosis test runs at conditions of 0.6 mol/l NaCl-solution, 25°C, 80 bar. The comparison of permeate fluxes and salt rejections after 1 hour and 200 hours of operation for the different membrane types yielded the following: Initial performance data were not influenced by filler addition, but flux declines with time were considerably lowered with increasing bentonite incorporation. Maximum permeate fluxes after a test duration of one year (0.308 m³/m²d) and integral product water amounts (107 m³/m²) were obtained by bentonite concentrations of 1000 ppm. As these membranes achieved the highest long-term salt rejections (97.5%), they were installed in an RO pilot plant on board NS Otto Hahn and comparatively investigated with undoped reference membranes. The permeate fluxes and salt rejections of the doped membranes were 0.305 m³/m²d and 94.5% respectively, compared to 0.195 m³/m²d and 92.5% for the undoped membranes.These improved long-term properties were interpreted by means of a double-layer membrane morphology and a flux-time correlation derived from it; the flux stabilization of bentonite-containing CA blend membranes resulted in an enhanced mechanical stability of the porous substructure.     

Effect of dodeca‐tungstophosphric acid on morphology and performance of polyvinyl alcohol membrane for gas separation

In this article, organic/inorganic membrane was prepared for gas separation by incorporating dodeca‐tungstophosphric acid (PWA) into the base polymer. Flat‐sheet composite membranes were produced via dry‐phase inversion method. In the first stage, the effects of PWA concentration on morphology and performance of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) membranes were elucidated. For this stage, the preparation of membranes was carried out at constant temperature of 40°C. The porosity of the prepared membrane was slightly increased with addition of PWA. By increasing the PWA concentration up to 6 wt % in the membrane recipe, the permeability of N₂, O and air was improved from 50,000 (for no addition of PWA) to around 160,000, 140,000, and 80,000 L m^?2 h^?1, respectively. For H this was enhanced from 110,000 to 230,000 L m^?2 h^?1. The ideal selectivity of the membrane was slightly improved for N₂/air (from 1 to 1.2). For N₂/O₂ pair, the initial drop (from 2.5 to 1.5) was followed by a slight increase (1.5–1.9). Moreover, the selectivity was decreased for H₂/air (from 2.8 to 1.8) and H₂/N₂ (from 2.2 to 1.7) by increasing the PWA concentration. The 10 wt % PVA membrane with 6 wt % PWA demonstrated superior performance compared with the other compositions. In summary, the presence of PWA in the casting solution results in lower flux for O₂ and higher selectivity for H₂/O₂ pair. In the second stage, the effects of solvent evaporation temperature (10, 27, 40, and 80°C) on morphology and performance of the membranes were studied. By increasing the temperature, the number and size of voids were increased. The permeation of gases was improved from 100,000 L m^?2 h^?1 (at 10°C) to 150,000 (O₂), 250,000 (air), 380,000 (N₂), and 600,000 L m^?2 h^?1 (H₂) by increasing the temperature up to 80°C. This increment resulted in selectivity alteration either increment or diminishment. The selectivity was changed from 1.3 to 3.2 (H₂/O₂), 0.8–2.5 (N₂/O₂), 1.2–2.4 (H₂/air), 0.6–1.5 (N₂/air) and 2.0–1.5 (H₂/N₂). © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009     

Preparation of ZIF-8—Pebax 1657 nanocomposite membranes for n-hexane/nitrogen separation as a representative of gasoline vapour recovery

Gasoline vapour emission is hazardous to both human health and the ecosystem and also results in capital loss, altogether revealing the necessity of its recovery. Some ZIF-8–Pebax flat nanocomposite membranes were fabricated by the method of solution casting and used for gasoline vapour recovery as represented by n-hexane vapour/nitrogen separation. Microporous ZIF-8 nanoparticles were synthesized and characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis. BET results revealed specific surface area, total volume, and average pore diameter of 940.8 m² · g⁻¹, 0.36 cm³ · g⁻¹, and 1.54 nm, respectively. Pure nitrogen and n-hexane vapour/nitrogen gas mixture permeabilities were measured through the membranes. There was a decline in both permeation rate and selectivity up to 5.0 wt.% of ZIF-8 loading and the next increment at their higher loadings to considerably more values that the pristine membrane. The maximum n-hexane vapour permeability and selectivity at 10.0 wt.% loading of ZIF-8 nanoparticles, the feed flow rate of 173 mL · min⁻¹, and permeate side pressure of −200 mbar were observed as 280.1 Barrer and 106.7, respectively, revealing 60.0% and 36.9% improvements compared with those of the pristine Pebax membrane. Observed 86%–92% n-hexane vapour recovery approves the successful application of the ZIF-8–Pebax nanocomposite membranes for n-hexane/nitrogen separation. The long-term separation performance of 5.0 wt.% ZIF-8 loaded nanocomposite membrane was improved by 76.5% compared with that of the pristine Pebax membrane.     

Poly(ether sulfone) supported hybrid poly(vinyl alcohol)–maleic acid–silicone dioxide membranes for the pervaporation separation of ethanol–water mixtures

Microporous poly(ether sulfone) (PES) supported hybrid polymer–inorganic membranes were prepared by the crosslinking of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), maleic acid (MA), and SiO₂ via an aqueous sol–gel route and a solution‐casting method. The membrane performance was tested for the pervaporation separation of ethanol–water mixtures from 20 to 60 °C with a feed ethanol concentration of 96 wt %. The membrane characterization results reveal that different SiO₂ loadings affected the crystallinity and roughness of the membranes. The PVA–MA–SiO₂ membrane containing 10 wt % SiO₂ showed that SiO₂ nanoparticles were well dispersed within the polymer matrix; this resulted in significant enhancements in both the flux and selectivity. The membrane achieved a high water permeability of 1202 g·μm·m^?2 h^?1 kPa^?1 and a selectivity of 1027 for the separation of a 96 wt % ethanol‐containing aqueous solution. This enhanced membrane performance might have been due to the dense crosslinking membrane network, increased free volume, and uniform distribution of SiO₂ nanoparticles. Both the water and ethanol fluxes increased with the feed water concentration and temperature. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134 , 44839.