New (polydimethylsiloxane/graphene oxide)/poly valerolactone pervaporation composite membrane: preparation, characterization and ethylene dichloride/water separation evaluation

Authors

• Samira Safaei Nasab ¹
• Ali Arasteh nodeh ¹
• Susan Khosroyar * ¹
• Mahmod Reza Khadangi Mahrod ¹
• Vahid Hakimzadeh ²

1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Quchan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Quchan, Iran
2. Department of Food Science and technology, Quchan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Quchan, Iran

Abstract

In this research, a novel type of pervaporation membrane was developed by (polydimethylsiloxane(
PDMS)/graphene oxide(GO))/poly valerolactone (PVL) composite membrane. This prepared
membrane was used to separate ethylene dichloride from water. The electrospinning method was
used to nanofiber PVL preparation as a support layer for the composite membrane. To increase
the selectivity of the optimized PVL nanofiber membrane and increase the affinity with ethylene
dichloride; the membrane was coated with a dense PDMS/GO layer. The membranes were characterized
by SEM, FTIR, contact angle and swelling measurements. Also the membrane performance
in ethylene dichloride separation and its separation factors versus temperature (30−70° C) was
evaluated. Results show that with increasing temperature up to 70° C, the total flux and the
separation factor of (PDMS/GO)/PVL simultaneously increase from about 113 to 191 g/(m2h) and
from 3.4 to 11.65, respectively.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords

• Electrospinning
• Poly valerolactone
• Polydimethylsiloxane
• Selectivity