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Pervaporation characteristics and structure of poly(vinyl alcohol)/poly(ethylene glycol)/tetraethoxysilane hybrid membranes
Author(s) -
Ye Li Yi,
Liu Qing Lin,
Zhang Qiu Gen,
Zhu Ai Mei,
Zhou Guo Bo
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.26446
Subject(s) - pervaporation , vinyl alcohol , membrane , permeation , ethylene glycol , chemical engineering , materials science , peg ratio , polymer chemistry , annealing (glass) , scanning electron microscope , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , ethanol , nuclear chemistry , chemistry , organic chemistry , composite material , polymer , biochemistry , finance , engineering , economics
Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) blended with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) was crosslinked with tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) to prepare organic–inorganic PVA/PEG/TEOS hybrid membranes. The membranes were then used for the dehydration of ethanol by pervaporation (PV). The physicochemical structure of the hybrid membranes was studied with Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT‐IR), wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction WXRD, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). PVA and PEG were crosslinked with TEOS, and the crosslinking density increased with increases in the TEOS content, annealing temperature, and time. The water permselectivity of the hybrid membranes increased with increasing annealing temperature or time; however, the permeation fluxes decreased at the same time. SEM pictures showed that phase separation took place in the hybrid membranes when the TEOS content was greater than 15 wt %. The water permselectivity increased with the addition of TEOS and reached the maximum at 10 wt % TEOS. The water permselectivity decreased, whereas the permeation flux increased, with an increase in the feed water content or feed temperature. The hybrid membrane that was annealed at 130°C for 12 h exhibited high permselectivity with a separation factor of 300 and a permeation flux of 0.046 kg m −2 h −1 in PV of 15 wt % water in ethanol. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007