| Abstract: | ABSTRACT In the present work, cobalt(III) acetylacetonate [Co(acac)3] was added to polycarbonate (PC) to improve its performance on pervaporation separation of water/ethanol mixtures. By adding 3 wt% of Co(acac)3 the resulting PC/Co(acac)3 complex membrane possessed a permeation rate similar to a pure polycarbonate membrane, but the separation factor (water/ethanol) was about three times higher. The stability of the complex membrane was tested, and it was found that, after being immersed in an aqueous ethanol solution for 72 hours, the complex membrane was still stable. In addition, the effects of the added amount of Co(acac)3 and the feed composition on pervaporation performance are presented in this work, and the mechanism of the improvement in pervaporation performance is briefly discussed. |
