Pervaporative desulfurization of model gasoline with Ag2O-filled PDMS membranes

Mixed matrix membranes of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) with silver oxide (Ag2O) as the filler were prepared and used for desulfurization of model gasoline composed of n-octane and thiophenes. The effect of the degree of Ag2O loading, feed temperature on the pervaporation properties of Ag2O-filled PDMS membranes was investigated experimentally. Ag2O-filling leads to a decrease in total flux because of the tortuosity effect of the impermeable Ag2O particles dispersed in the membranes. Due to the physio-chemical interactions between Ag2O and thiophenes, an increase in selectivity to thiophenes was gained with Ag2O-filled membranes. Feed temperature shows different impact on selectivity to thiophenes for Ag2O-filled and unfilled membranes. Analysis of the selectivity–permeability trade-off was carried out for both the filled and unfilled membranes.