Palladium modified porous polymeric membranes and their performance in selective hydrogenation of propyne

The accessible pore system of polymeric ultrafiltration membranes was modif ied by titanium dioxide and treated further with palladium acetate to yield catalytically active, porous nanofiltration membranes. This procedure is i n general applicable for any polymeric ultrafiltration membrane. To overcom e the drawback of low thermal stability of common polymeric membranes, new ultrafiltration membranes were developed, based on a polyamideimide contain ing up to 40 wt.% of an inorganic filler admired to the membrane casting so lution. A similar treatment yielded catalytically active polymer membranes stable up to 200 degreesC. The membranes were characterised by several meth ods and their performance was tested in a membrane reactor at 30 degreesC. The hydrogenation of propene and the selective hydrogenation of propyne wer e examined as test reactions. For most effective membranes, 100% conversion of propene at a maximum yield of 98% of propane was obtained at the permea te side. In the selective hydrogenation of 5% propyne in propene, a selecti vity of 99% for propene at 100% conversion of propyne was achieved at a per meate flux of 0.08 m(3)/m(2) h bar at 0.9 bar pressure difference. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.