A novel in situ synthesized magnetite containing acrylonitrile and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate grafted poly(vinyl alcohol) nanocomposite membranes for pervaporation separation of acetone/water mixtures

• Synthesizing in situ nanoparticles of Fe3O4 in PVA-g-AN/HEMA copolymer matrix.
• Use of in situ synthesized magnetite containing membranes in pervaporation separation of acetone /water mixtures.
• In situ preparation of nanofiller reinforced membranes.
• Improvement of stability of PVA-g-AN/HEMA membranes in aqueous solutions without crosslinking.

In this study separation of acetone/water mixtures was investigated by pervaporation (PV) technique using poly(vinyl alcohol)-g-acrylonitrile/2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-Fe3O4 (PVA-g-AN/HEMA-Fe3O4) nanocomposite membranes. AN and HEMA was grafted onto PVA by irradiating with UV light. The graft copolymer was characterized by elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), proton-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H NMR), carbon-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (13C NMR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Magnetite nanoparticles were in situ synthesized in copolymer membrane and the membrane was characterized by using FTIR, DSC, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and contact angle measurements. Membrane performance was examined by changing the feed composition (0–100 wt.%) and operating temperature (30–50 °C). The highest separation factor of 120 was obtained with 80 wt.% acetone concentration in the feed.

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