The Development of Thin Film Composite Membranes for Pervaporation Dehydration of Alcohols

Abstract

Membrane pervaporation has progressively become a prospective separation technique for azeotropic mixtures or close boiling point mixtures owing to the advantages of energy efficiency, environmental benignity and easy operation. Membrane is the heart of a successful pervaporation process. In this work, a comprehensive study on the development of thin film composite (TFC) hollow fiber membranes for pervaporation dehydration of alcohols is presented. Firstly, a systematic study of the effect of hollow fiber substrates, amine monomer structures, interfacial polymerization conditions and post treatment on the resultant TFC membranes is carried out. After the fundamental study and understanding, several types of high performance TFC membranes are designed with suitable molecular engineering, including organic-inorganic hybrid TFC membranes and in-situ cross-linked TFC membranes. In-depth investigation of the physicochemical properties, morphologies and fine structures of these developed membranes is performed. Excellent separation performances are achieved as compared to most reported membranes in the literature.