| Abstract: | Pervaporation separation of water–ethanol was carried out with polyion complex membranes based on k-carrageenan. The polyion complex membranes were prepared by the ion complex formation between k-carrageenan (anionic polymer) and poly{1,3-bis4-alkylpyridi-nium]propane bromide}s (cationic polymers) with different numbers of methylene units between two ionic sites within a repeating unit, respectively. The ion complex membranes were characterized with FT-IR, X-ray diffractometry. Dehydration of 90 wt % aqueous ethanol solution was carried out at different temperatures (30, 40, 50, and 60°C). The selectivity and permeability through them were very good over a wide temperature range; in the case of the polyion complex membrane consisting of k-carrageenan and poly{1,3-bis4-ethylpyridinium]propane bromide}, the permselectivity was 45,000 and permeability was 150 g/m2 h at 30°C. With increasing operating temperature, the permeability was increased highly but the selectivity decreased slightly. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. |
