Pervaporation Separation Of Water-Isopropanol Mixture Using MFI-24Q Zeolite Incorporated Blend Naalg And HPC Membranes

Abstract Using solution casting technique MFI-24Q Zeolite-incorporated Sodium alginate and Hydroxy propyl cellulose blend membranes were prepared and subjected to characterized and used for the pervaporation separation of water-isopropanol mixtures. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy technique was used to analyze the possible chemical reactions between NaAlg HPC zeolite and glutaraldehyde. TGA studies revealed the stability of the zeolite incorporated membrane and scanning electron microscopy results used to analyze the surface morphology of the membranes. X-Ray diffraction analysis showed the broadening and sharpening of the peaks at different NaAlg concentration with HPC. This indicated changes in the crystallinity to amorphous ratio which in turn showed the miscibility of these two polymers in the blend membrane. The effects of Zeolite loading and feed composition on the pervaporation performance of the membranes were analyzed. Both flux and selectivity increased simultaneously with an increase of zeolite content in the polymer matrix. This was explained on the basis of enhancement of hydrophilicity selective adsorption and molecular sieving action including reduction of pore size of the membrane matrix. The membrane containing 15 mass of zeolite shows the highest separation selectivity of 991 with a flux of 0.67x10-2 kgm2 h for 10 mass of water in the feed mixture at 300C. Increase in water selectivity of the membrane was explained due to a reduction in free volume by increasing zeolite content of the membrane. Separation selectivity and permeation flux data are dependent on water composition of the feed mixture. The hindrance of water permeation at higher composition of water in the feed mixture was explained due to the formation of clusters of water molecules.