Building movable bridges in membrane matrix by polyrotaxane crosslinking for sulfur removal

•Novel fabrication strategy for PV membrane was proposed based on polyrotaxane.•Movable bridge in membrane matrix is key for high membrane performance.•Crosslinking degree has significant effect on PV membrane.

Sulfur removal from gasoline by pervaporation (PV) membrane has attracted considerable attention. A novel strategy has been proposed to improve the desulphurization performance by building movable bridges in PV membrane matrix. Based on the designed polyrotaxane (PR) crosslinking agent, the EC membranes with PR bridges are fabricated. The selectivity and permeation flux of fabricated membranes are 8.1 and 3.5 kg/(m2 h), respectively. The membrane performance is at higher level compared with the literature data, which is markedly related with the movable bridges in membrane matrix.

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