Pervaporation separation of levulinic acid aqueous solution by ZSM-5/PDMS composite membrane

This work aims at investigating the special application of ZSM-5/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane being used for pervaporation separation of levulinic acid aqueous solutions. The effects of temperature, downstream pressure, feed concentration, and raw material ratio on the separation performance are investigated by self-made flat-sheet films. When the flow rate of feed pump remained at 0.4 ml/min (10 wt% levulinic acid), a levulinic acid permeation flux of 334.13 g/(m²h) and a separation factor of 2.382 at 75°C are observed over the composite membrane doped with 10 wt% ZSM-5. In addition, the acid resistance is enhanced after the PDMS membranes are doped with ZSM-5. Besides, the functionalized process also makes the membranes increase in its hydrophobicity. The results demonstrate that the ZSM-5/PDMS-based membranes show profound prospects for separating levulinic acid aqueous solution.