Enhancement of NaA zeolite membrane properties through organic cation addition

Thin NaA zeolite membranes, with uniform and small crystals, were prepared on the tubular α-Al2O3 support by adding a small amount of tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAOH) in the clear synthesis solution. The as-synthesized NaA zeolite membranes were characterized by XRD and SEM. The permeation properties of the membranes were evaluated by pervaporation and gas permeation. The effects of TMAOH amount on membrane formation and permeation properties were investigated. By addition of suitable amount of TMAOH in the clear synthesis solution, the crystals size of NaA zeolite could be remarkably reduced from about 10 μm to 3–4 μm, and the membrane thickness correspondingly reduced from about 16 μm to 5 μm. The thinner membrane prepared by adding TMAOH in the clear synthesis solution, with uniform and small crystal, displayed higher perm-selective properties than that without adding TMAOH. For the as-synthesized NaA zeolite membrane prepared with adding suitable amount of TMAOH (x = 1), the separation factor (water/isopropanol) was 4700 and the flux was 1.67 kg/(m2 h), which were higher than that without adding TMAOH of 339 and 1.08 kg/(m2 h), respectively. The ideal separation factor of H2/N2 was 6.60, higher than that without adding TMAOH of 3.41.