Supported ionic liquid membranes for water and volatile organic compounds separation: Sorption and permeation properties

The feasibility of the prepared SILMs for the separation of water and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as ethanol and cyclohexane by vapor permeation was investigated. For this purpose, a preliminary study of water and VOC vapor sorption in RTILs was necessary to determine the affinity between each solute and RTILs. Only [C4C1im][BF4] showed both the best sorption capacities and the good sorption selectivities. The vapor permeation measurements were therefore carried out only through the SILMs impregnated with [C4C1im][BF4]. The SILM permeability was found to increase in the same sorption affinity order as for [C4C1im][BF4], i.e. cyclohexane