Pervaporation with chitosan membranes containing iron oxide nanoparticles

• Composite chitosan membranes filled with iron ferroferric oxides can be used in pervaporation.
• CHGA membranes exhibit superior separation properties over the CHSA membranes.
• Presence of iron oxide particles in polymer matrix further improve all separation parameters.

Composite chitosan membranes filled with various amount of iron ferroferric oxides (Fe3O4) cross-linked by two different agents, i.e. sulphuric acid (CHSA) and glutaraldehyde (CHGA) were prepared, and the pervaporation of water/ethanol mixture was investigated. The influence of cross-linking agents and iron oxide powder content on the transport properties were discussed. Permeation of water after addition of iron oxide nanoparticles to the polymer matrix for both types of cross-linking agents gradually increased. Furthermore, it was observed that the difference between permeation coefficients for ethanol and water was larger for membranes cross-linked by glutaraldehyde then for membranes cross-linked by sulphuric acid. Maximal evaluated the separation factor for CHGA membranes was about 2.5 times larger than for CHSA, and selectivity coefficient was 3.5 times larger.

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