INFLUENCE OF ZEOLITES IN PDMS MEMBRANES - PERVAPORATION OF WATER ALCOHOL MIXTURES/

A strong influence of the zeolite was found on the pervaporation of al cohol/water mixtures using filled PDMS membranes. In all cases, the ze olites reduced the swelling of the PDMS. Incorporation of the hydrophi lic zeolite Y increased water fluxes, while ZSM-5 reduced both water a nd alcohol fluxes due to a partial retention of these molecules in the zeolite. For branched alcohols, the extreme importance of diffusion l ed to a strong dependency of selectivity and flux on temperature. Comp ared with commercially available PDMS membranes, better results were r ealized with the self-prepared membranes.