Applications and characterization of silicalite-1/polydimethylsiloxane composite membranes for the pervaporation of a model solution and fermentation broth

Abstract

Abstract Ethanol recovery via pervaporation is greatly influenced by membrane separation performance, which can be enhanced by adding hydrophobic fillers such as silicalite-1. Silicalite-1 was prepared by controlling the gel molar composition in hydrothermal synthesis, and it was incorporated into a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane on Teflon. The silicalite-1 Si-O-Si structures interacted with the -Si(CH3)2-O- backbone of the PDMS chain. The thermal gravimetric analysis results showed that the silicalite-1 improved the thermal stability and raised the initial decomposition temperature from 405°C to 450–470°C. Increasing silicalite-1 content from 5 to 20 wt% enhanced the relative ethanol/water swelling from 1.33% to 1.52% and advanced the contact angle from 112.6° to 138.6°. Addition of 20 wt% silicalite-1 improved the separation factor in broth from 2.55 to 5.56. When using 20 wt% silicalite-1/PDMS membrane and replacing the ethanol solution with broth, fouling reduced the flux from 597 to 482 g m−2 h−1, but the broth composite increased the separation factor from 3.14 to 5.56. The overall pervaporation separation index with a santol broth of the 20 wt% silicalite-1/PDMS and commercial PDMS membranes were 2199 and 2110. The prepared membranes had similar overall performance as a commercial membrane.