Ag-exchanged NaY zeolite introduced polyvinyl alcohol/polyacrylic acid mixed matrix membrane for pervaporation separation of water/isopropanol mixture

• Published in: RSC advances 2018-01, Vol.8 (37), p.2669-2678
• Main Authors: Kwon, YongSung, Chaudhari, Shivshankar, Kim, ChaEun, Son, DaHae, Park, JiHwan, Moon, MyungJun, Shon, MinYoung, Park, YouIn, Nam, SeungEun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Chemical industry; Chemistry; Contact angle; Crosslinking; Dehydration; Ion exchange; Isopropanol; Membranes; Pervaporation; Polyacrylic acid; Polyvinyl alcohol; Separation; Zeolites
• ISSN: 2046-2069; 2046-2069
• DOI: 10.1039/c8ra03474e

Ag-exchanged NaY zeolite (Ag-NaZ) particles were prepared by ion exchange and introduced to a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) membrane cross-linked with polyacrylic acid (PAA) for the pervaporation dehydration of an isopropanol (IPA) aqueous mixture. The Ag-exchanged NaY zeolite particles were characterized by FE-SEM, EDS, BET, and XRD studies. The prepared Ag-NaZ-loaded PVA/PAA composite membrane was characterized by FE-SEM, XRD, a swelling study, and contact angle measurements. Pervaporation characteristics were investigated in terms of Ag-NaZ concentrations within PVA/PAA membranes using diverse feed solution conditions. The preferential sorption of IPA/water mixtures for Ag-NaZ-introduced membranes were also determined by calculating the apparent activation energies of IPA and water permeation, respectively. As a result, flux and selectivity increased with the Ag-NaZ concentration to 5 wt% in the membrane. Optimum pervaporation performance was observed in a 5 wt% Ag-NaZ-incorporated membrane with a flux equal to 0.084 kg m −2 h −1 and a separation factor of 2717.9 at 40 °C from an 80 wt% IPA aqueous feed solution. Ag-exchanged NaY zeolite (Ag-NaZ) particles were prepared by ion exchange and introduced to a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) membrane cross-linked with polyacrylic acid (PAA) for the pervaporation dehydration of an isopropanol (IPA) aqueous mixture.