Crosslinked blended poly(vinyl alcohol)/N-methylol nylon-6 membranes for the pervaporation separation of ethanol–water mixtures

✍ Scribed by Robert Y. M. Huang; Jyh-Jeng Shieh

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 219 KB
• Volume: 70
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-8995
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-4628(19981010)70:2<317::aid-app12>3.0.co;2-0

✦ Synopsis

Crosslinked blended membranes of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and N-methylol nylon-6 were prepared either by thermal crosslinking at 180°C or by chemical crosslinking with maleic acid. The pervaporation performance for the separation of ethanol-water mixtures of these membranes was investigated in terms of feed concentration, PVA content, and crosslinking agent content. The pervaporation performance of two differently crosslinked membranes was strongly influenced by the nature of the crosslinkage. Significant improvement in the pervaporation separation index can be achieved for chemically crosslinked membranes. From the comparison between the pervaporation and sorption tests, it is suggested that, for hydrophilic membranes, sorption properties dominate the pervaporation performance at feed solutions of higher water content, while diffusion properties govern at feed solutions of higher ethanol content.