TY - JOUR

T1 - Enhancing pervaporation membrane selectivity by incorporating star macromolecules modified with ionic liquid for intensification of lactic acid dehydration

AU - Rostovtseva, Valeriia

AU - Pulyalina, Alexandra

AU - Dubovenko, Roman

AU - Faykov, Ilya

AU - Subbotina, Kseniya

AU - Saprykina, Natalia

AU - Novikov, Alexander

AU - Vinogradova, Ludmila

AU - Polotskaya, Galina

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

PY - 2021/5/31

Y1 - 2021/5/31

N2 - Modification of polymer matrix by hybrid fillers is a promising way to produce membranes with excellent separation efficiency due to variations in membrane structure. High-performance membranes for the pervaporation dehydration were produced by modifying poly(2,6-dimethyl1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO) to facilitate lactic acid purification. Ionic liquid (IL), heteroarm star macromolecules (HSM), and their combination (IL:HSM) were employed as additives to the polymer matrix. The composition and structure of hybrid membranes were characterized by X-ray diffraction and FTIR spectroscopy. Scanning electron microscopy was used to investigate the membranes surface and cross-section morphology. It was established that the inclusion of modifiers in the polymer matrix leads to the change of membrane structure. The influence of IL:HSM was also studied via sorption experiments and pervaporation of water-lactic acid mixtures. Lactic acid is an essential compound in many industries, including food, pharmaceutical, chemical, while the recovering and purifying account for approximately 50% of its production cost. It was found that the membranes selectively remove water from the feed. Quantum mechanical calculations determine the favorable interactions between various membrane components and the liquid mixture. With IL:HSM addition, the separation factor and performance in lactic acid dehydration were improved compared with pure polymer membrane. The best performance was found for (HSM: IL)-PPO/UPM composite membrane, where the permeate flux and the separation factor of about 0.06 kg m−2 h−1 and 749, respectively, were obtained. The research results demonstrated that ionic liquids in combination with star macromolecules for membrane modification could be a promising approach for membrane design.

AB - Modification of polymer matrix by hybrid fillers is a promising way to produce membranes with excellent separation efficiency due to variations in membrane structure. High-performance membranes for the pervaporation dehydration were produced by modifying poly(2,6-dimethyl1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO) to facilitate lactic acid purification. Ionic liquid (IL), heteroarm star macromolecules (HSM), and their combination (IL:HSM) were employed as additives to the polymer matrix. The composition and structure of hybrid membranes were characterized by X-ray diffraction and FTIR spectroscopy. Scanning electron microscopy was used to investigate the membranes surface and cross-section morphology. It was established that the inclusion of modifiers in the polymer matrix leads to the change of membrane structure. The influence of IL:HSM was also studied via sorption experiments and pervaporation of water-lactic acid mixtures. Lactic acid is an essential compound in many industries, including food, pharmaceutical, chemical, while the recovering and purifying account for approximately 50% of its production cost. It was found that the membranes selectively remove water from the feed. Quantum mechanical calculations determine the favorable interactions between various membrane components and the liquid mixture. With IL:HSM addition, the separation factor and performance in lactic acid dehydration were improved compared with pure polymer membrane. The best performance was found for (HSM: IL)-PPO/UPM composite membrane, where the permeate flux and the separation factor of about 0.06 kg m−2 h−1 and 749, respectively, were obtained. The research results demonstrated that ionic liquids in combination with star macromolecules for membrane modification could be a promising approach for membrane design.

KW - Hybrid membrane

KW - Ionic liquid

KW - Pervaporation

KW - Star macromolecule

KW - hybrid membrane

KW - ESTERIFICATION

KW - POLYPHENYLENE OXIDE

KW - ionic liquid

KW - TRANSPORT

KW - POLY(PHENYLENE OXIDE) MEMBRANES

KW - PURIFICATION

KW - star macromolecule

KW - ETHANOL

KW - SEPARATION

KW - AQUEOUS MIXTURE

KW - POLYDIMETHYLSILOXANE MEMBRANE

KW - pervaporation

KW - PERMEATION

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85107941348&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/polym13111811

DO - 10.3390/polym13111811

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85107941348

VL - 13

JO - Polymers

JF - Polymers

SN - 2073-4360

IS - 11

M1 - 1811

ER -