Poly(vinyl alcohol)-Modified Membranes by Ti3C2T x for Ethanol Dehydration via Pervaporation

Weibin Cai; Xue Cheng; Xiaohan Chen; Jiding Li; Junqi Pei

doi:10.1021/acsomega.9b03388

Poly(vinyl alcohol)-Modified Membranes by Ti₃C₂T _x for Ethanol Dehydration via Pervaporation

ACS Omega. 2020 Mar 20;5(12):6277-6287. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.9b03388. eCollection 2020 Mar 31.

Authors

Weibin Cai¹, Xue Cheng¹, Xiaohan Chen¹, Jiding Li², Junqi Pei¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Beijing 100083, China.
² Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.

Abstract

In this paper, PVA/Ti₃C₂T _x mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) were prepared by mixing the synthesized Ti₃C₂T _x with the PVA matrix, and the pervaporation (PV) performance of the ethanol-water binary system was tested. The morphology, structural properties, and surface characteristics of the membranes were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, degree of swelling, and water contact angle. The PVA/Ti₃C₂T _x MMMs exhibit excellent compatibility and swelling resistance. Moreover the effects of the Ti₃C₂T _x filling level, feed concentration, and operating temperature on the ethanol dehydration performance were systematically studied. The results demonstrated that the separation factor of PVA/Ti₃C₂T _x MMMs was significantly increased because of Ti₃C₂T _x promoting the cross-linking density of the membrane. Specifically, the membrane showed the best PV performance when Ti₃C₂T _x loading was 3.0 wt %, achieving a separation factor of 2585 and a suitable total flux of 0.074 kg/m² h for separating 93 wt % ethanol solution at 37 °C.