Sorption Behaviour of Inorganic Material Filled-PDMS Films in Ethanol, Butanol, Acetone and Water

Abstract

The pervaporation method in which the transport mechanism through a nonporous membrane is explained by the solution-diffusion model can be used for the separation of water-organic and organic-organic mixtures. The sorption behaviour of a polymeric membrane plays important role in membrane transport, depending on the solvent and polymer properties. Since the membrane itself is the key component in the pervaporation method, as with all other membrane processes, it is necessary to determine suitable membrane material that can selectively separate at least one component from a liquid mixture. Ethanol, butanol and acetone are widely used in many industrial applications. PDMS is one of the polymers that is frequently used in the recovery of organics from organic-water mixtures or the separation of organic-organic mixtures. PDMS gives high chain mobility, low mechanical resistance and low selectivity values. For this reason, its properties need to be improved. In this study, unfilled PDMS, PDMS/TiO2, PDMS/NaY and PDMS/5A mixed matrix films were prepared, and the sorption behaviours of prepared PDMS films in different chemical substances at temperatures of 30,40 and 50°C were investigated.