PERVAPORATION SEPARATION OF IPA - WATER MIXTURES THROUGH ZSM - 5 ZEOLITE - FILLED GUARGUM MEMBRANES

ZSM - 5 zeolite filled Guargum membranes were prepared by solution casting method by varying the zeolite content ranging from 10 to 30 wt % with respect to GG weight. Membranes were cross - linked with glutaraldehyde and tested for Pervaporation (PV) dehydration of aqueous IPA at 300 C. These membranes were characterized by Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Scanning E lectron Microscopy (SEM) and X - ray diffraction (X - RD) techniques. From FTIR results it is noticed that the formation crosslinking is observed in these blend membranes. Further from DSC & X - RD results it is observed that the peaks of Si - O increased with inc rease in zeolite content which confirms that there is no chemical interaction between zeolite & GG. Morphology of the membranes was assessed by SEM and the results concluded that the zeolite particles are uniformly dispersed in GG membranes. Sorption studi es have been performed to evaluate the extent of interaction and degree of swelling of the membranes with pure GG and zeolite mixed membranes at different IPA - water contents in the feed mixture. The pervaporation results it is observed that the flux decrea sed and the selectivity increased systematically with increasing amount of zeolite in the GG matrix. The membrane containing 30 mass % of zeolite gave the highest separation selectivity of 249.15 for 10 mass % of water containing feed mixture at 30°C. Incr ease in water selectivity of the membrane was explained due to a reduction in free volume by increasing zeolite content of the membrane. The presence of hydrophobic nature of zeolite also responsible for the above trends.