NaP1 zeolite membranes with high selectivity for water-alcohol pervaporation
Journal
Journal of Membrane Science
Journal Volume
639
Date Issued
2021
Author(s)
Abstract
Membrane pervaporation is an emerging technique for the separation of water from alcohols, and zeolites with ordered ultramicropores (pore size <0.7 nm) have shown particular promise for use as membrane materials. This is the first paper to propose the use of NaP1 zeolite in membrane pervaporation. NaP1 zeolite has a GIS type topology with an 8-member ring that forms a pore limiting diameter of 3.0 ?, which is ideal for the separation of water from alcohols. NaP1 zeolite membranes with various Si/Al ratios (1.9, 3.3, and 3.9) were made via the seeded growth. Pervaporation tests were performed using an aqueous feed solution of 90 wt% ethanol or IPA at 348 K. The sample with a Si/Al ratio of 3.3 achieved separation factors surpassing most existing zeolite membranes: water/ethanol (200,000) and water/isopropanol (36,000). Nano-beam X-ray diffraction was used to map grain sizes in membrane samples, due to its role in surface hydrophilicity. State-of-the-art molecular simulations provided valuable insights into the diffusion and adsorption of water/alcohol molecules in NaP1 zeolite. From simulations, NaP1 zeolite presented a high water diffusivity and a high adsorption selectivity of water over ethanol or isopropanol. Experiment and computation results demonstrate the potential of NaP1 zeolite as a membrane material for alcohol dehydration. ? 2021 Elsevier B.V.
Subjects
Alcohol dehydration
NaP1 zeolite
Pervaporation
Zeolite GIS
Zeolite membrane
Dehydration
Ethanol
Evaporation
Geographic information systems
Hydrophilicity
Membranes
Pore size
High selectivity
Isopropanol
Membrane material
Membrane pervaporation
Si/Al ratio
Water alcohols
Zeolites
2 propanol
alcohol
alcohol derivative
aluminum
nucleosome assembly protein 1
silicon
water
zeolite
adsorption
Article
diffusion
diffusivity
hydrophilicity
membrane
particle size
pervaporation
simulation
X ray diffraction
GIS
Water
Wettability
Type
journal article