Effect of fabrication parameters on the performance zeolite filled composite pervaporation membranes

The aim of this study is to develop a new pervaporation membrane for dehydration of ethanol/water mixture and to investigate the effect of preparation parameters on the membrane performance. Zeoiltes NaX are added az fillers to the base polymer, polyethersulfone (PES). Membranes were preparaed by solvent evaporation method and anealed above the glass transition temperature (Tg) of PES. The performance of the fabricated membrane was evaluated by pervaporation of a ethanol/water solution at constant feed temperature and permeate pressure. The results showed that incorporation of zeolite NaX to neat PES membarnes resulted in higher permeabilites, but by adding more zeolite the selectivity decreased compare to the neat PES. It was obseved that annealing strongly affect the performance of membarnes.