Pervaporation separation of ethanol/water mixture using modified zeolite filled PDMS membranes

In this article, the composite polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membranes supported by cellulose acetate (CA) microfiltration membrane were successfully prepared by adding modified zeolite particles with a silane coupling agent, NH₃–C₃H₆–Si(OC₂H₅)₃. The sorption and diffusion behaviors of ethanol and water in the films were studied. The results showed that with the increase in the modified zeolite content, the solubility selectivity increased, but the diffusion selectivity first increased, then decreased. The effects of modified zeolite content and feed temperature on the pervaporation performance of the composite membranes in 10 wt % ethanol/water mixture were also investigated. When modified zeolite loading was 20 wt %, for 10 wt % ethanol/water mixture at 40°C, the permeate flux was 348.7 g·m^?2·h^?1, the separation factor was 14.1, and the permeate separate index was 4568, respectively. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 41897.