Membranes of crosslinked hyperbranch polymers and their pervaporation properties

To explore the novel pervaporation materials, the membranes of hyperbranched polyglycidol (HPG) and hyperbranched poly (amine-ester) (HPAE) were prepared by crosslinking terminal hydroxyl groups with 4,4′-oxydiphthalic anhydride (ODPA) and glutaraldehyde (GA), respectively. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) revealed that the crosslinked HPG-ODPA and HPAE-GA membranes had the dense and homogenous matrices. The intrinsic hydrophilicity of the membranes makes them having water permeation preference in pervaporation process. On the basis of their swelling behavior, the pervaporation properties of these two crosslinked membranes in separating water from water/isopropanol mixture were discussed and compared.