Facile Preparation of a Laponite/PVA Mixed Matrix Membrane for Efficient and Sustainable Pervaporative Dehydration of C1-C3 Alcohols

Asmaa Selim; András Jozsef Toth; Daniel Fozer; Karoly Süvegh; Péter Mizsey

doi:10.1021/acsomega.0c04380

Facile Preparation of a Laponite/PVA Mixed Matrix Membrane for Efficient and Sustainable Pervaporative Dehydration of C1-C3 Alcohols

ACS Omega. 2020 Dec 7;5(50):32373-32385. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.0c04380. eCollection 2020 Dec 22.

Authors

Asmaa Selim^{1

2}, András Jozsef Toth¹, Daniel Fozer¹, Karoly Süvegh³, Péter Mizsey^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Environmental and Process Engineering Research Group, Department of Chemical and Environmental Process Engineering, Faculty of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, H-1521 Budapest, P.O.B. 91, Hungary.
² Chemical Engineering Department, National Research Centre, 33 El Buhouth Street, 12622 Cairo, Egypt.
³ Laboratory of Nuclear Chemistry, Eötvös Loránd University/HAS Chemical Research Center, P.O. Box 32, H-1518, Budapest 112, Hungary.
⁴ Institute of Chemistry, University of Miskolc, H-3515 Miskolc, Hungary.

Abstract

The exfoliation method was applied for the preparation of high-water selective mixed matrix membranes (MMMs), especially for the dehydration of C1-C3 alcohol-water solutions. Herein, a facile and easy method was employed to fabricate physically cross-linked Laponite nanosilicate clay-PVA MMMs without additional cross-linking by a one-step synthesis route for water dehydration from methanol, ethanol, and isopropanol aqueous solutions. The morphologies, chemical structures, thermal stabilities, and surface hydrophilicity of Laponite-PVA MMMs were investigated properly by different characterization techniques. The Laponite concentration has affected the fractional free volume of the membranes, as proven by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy analysis. The MMMs displayed both a significant improvement in the separation factor and remarkable enhancement in the permeation fluxes for the three alcohol systems. The influence of the operating temperature on the MMM performance was investigated for the methanol/water solution. The methanol permeability was 100-fold lower than that of the water, indicating that the membranes are more water selective. Particularly, the Laponite-PVA membrane with 5 mg/mL Laponite loading exhibits excellent separation efficiency for C1-C3 dehydration having water permeabilities higher than most other polymeric membranes from the other literature studies of 2.82, 2.08, and 1.56 mg m^-1 h^-1 kPa^-1 for methanol, ethanol, and isopropanol/water systems, respectively. This membrane development allows a more efficient and sustainable separation of aqueous alcoholic mixtures.