Crosslinked chitosan membranes: characterization and study of dimethylhydrazine dehydration by pervaporation

Crosslinked chitosan membranes were synthesized using glutaraldehyde and ch aracterized by infra-red (IR) and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) spect roscopic methods. The membranes were applied for the pervaporation-based de hydration of the highly hazardous and hypergolic unsymmetrical dimethylhydr azine liquid propellant. The characterization techniques were an efficient tool in identifying polymer-liquid interaction sites and the separation mec hanisms involved. The crosslinked polymer was found to have good potential for the separation of the aqueous azeotrope of the propellant (20wt%) and i ts enrichment to > 90% purity. An equilibrium sorption study examined the p referential affinity of the membrane amongst the two penetrating liquids. T he pervaporation performance of the membrane was evaluated by varying the e xperimental parameters of feed composition, membrane thickness and permeate pressure, and found to be promising. (C) 2001 Society of Chemical Industry .