Development and characterisation of hybrid polysaccharide membranes for dehydration processes

Inês T Meireles; Rosa M Huertas; Cristiana A V Torres; Isabel M Coelhoso; João G Crespo

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.03.010

Development and characterisation of hybrid polysaccharide membranes for dehydration processes

Carbohydr Polym. 2018 Jul 1:191:216-224. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.03.010. Epub 2018 Mar 14.

Authors

Inês T Meireles¹, Rosa M Huertas², Cristiana A V Torres³, Isabel M Coelhoso⁴, João G Crespo¹

Affiliations

¹ LAQV/Requimte, Departamento de Química, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Campus de Caparica, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal.
² LAQV/Requimte, Departamento de Química, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Campus de Caparica, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal; Laboratory of Membrane Processes, Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica (iBET), apartado 12, 2780-901 Oeiras, Portugal.
³ UCIBIO/Requimte, Departamento de Química, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Campus de Caparica, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal.
⁴ LAQV/Requimte, Departamento de Química, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Campus de Caparica, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal. Electronic address: imrc@fct.unl.pt.

PMID: 29661312
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.03.010

Abstract

The purpose of this work is the development and characterisation of new hybrid polysaccharide (FucoPol) membranes. These membranes were prepared by incorporation of a SiO₂ network homogeneously dispersed by using a sol-gel method with GPTMS as a crosslinker silica precursor. They were further crosslinked with CaCl₂ for reinforcement of mechanical properties and improvement of their permeation performance. They were characterised in terms of their structural, mechanical and thermal properties. They presented a dense and homogeneous structure, resistant to deformation, with a Tg of 43 °C and a thermal decomposition between 240 and 251 °C. The hybrid FucoPol membranes were tested for ethanol dehydration by pervaporation and also for nitrogen dehydration. They exhibited high water selectivity values, similar to PERVAP^® 4101, however they lost their stability when exposed to solutions of 10.0 wt.% water in ethanol. In contrast, these membranes were stable when applied in N₂ dehydration, leading to reproducible performance and very high water selectivities.

Keywords: Biopolymer; Ethanol dehydration; Gas dehydration; Hybrid membranes; Sol-gel process.