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Separation Science and Technology, Vol.48, No.4, 523-536, 2013
Mixed Matrix Silicone and Fluorosilicone/Zeolite 4A Membranes for Ethanol Dehydration by Pervaporation
The ability of homogeneous and mixed matrix membranes prepared using standard silicone rubber, poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS), and fluorosilicone rubber, poly(trifluoropropylmethylsiloxane) (PTFPMS), to dehydrate ethanol by pervaporation was evaluated. Although PDMS is generally considered to be the benchmark hydrophobic membrane material in pervaporation, water/ethanol molar permselectivity of a pure PDMS membrane was found to be 0.89 for a feed containing 80/20w/w ethanol/water at 50 degrees C, indicating a slight selectivity for water. Fluorinated groups in PTFPMS improved the water-ethanol permselectivity to 1.85, but decreased the water permeability from 9.7x1012 kmol center dot m/m2 center dot s center dot kPa in PDMS to 5.1x1012 kmol center dot m/m2 center dot s center dot kPa (29,000 and 15,200 Barrer, respectively). These water permeabilities are attractive, particularly since the rubbery materials should not experience the steep declines in water permeability observed with most standard dehydration membranes as water concentration in the feed decreases. However, the water selectivity is lower than desired for most applications. Particles of hydrophilic zeolite 4A were loaded into both PDMS and PTFPMS matrices in an effort to boost water selectivity and further improve water permeability. Water-ethanol permselectivities as high as 11.5 and water permeabilities as high as 23.2x1012 kmol center dot m/m2 center dot s center dot kPa were observed for the PTFPMS/zeolite 4A mixed matrix membranes6 times higher than for the unfilled PTFPMS membrane.