Pervaporation dehydration of ethyl acetate/ethanol/water azeotrope using chitosan/poly (vinyl pyrrolidone) blend membranes

In this paper, chitosan (CS)/poly (vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) blend membranes crosslinked by glutaraldehyde (GA) were prepared for the separation of ethyl acetate/ethanol/water azeotrope by pervaporation (PV). Their chemical and physical characteristics were studied by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and contact angle measurement. The PV properties of the membranes were investigated through dehydration of the azeotrope. Permeation flux increased with increasing feed temperature and PVP content, while separation factor decreased. However, the separation factor increased with increasing GA content, whereas the flux decreased. The results showed that the membranes with PVP content of 10 wt% exhibited excellent PV properties with a flux of 953 g m−2 h−1 and separation factor of 746 at 35 °C.