Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Vol.71, No.2, 273-287, 1999
Characterization and pervaporation of chlorinated hydrocarbon-water mixtures with fluoroalkyl methacrylate-grafted PDMS membrane
It is desirable to enhance the selectivity of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane for chlorinated hydrocarbons. In this study, the PDMS membranes were improved by graft polymerization of 1H,1H,9H-hexadecafluorononyl methacrylate (HDFNMA), which has the effect of increasing the selectivity for chlorinated hydrocarbons. The PDMS membrane and HDFNMA were irradiated simultaneously by a Co-60 source. The grafted membranes had a microphase-separated structure, that is, a separated structure of PDMS and grafted HDFNMA. In the grafted PDMS membrane, a great separation performance for a TCE-water mixture was shown due to the introduction of the hydrophobic polymer, poly(HDFNMA). For the permeation of the grafted PDMS membrane, the permeability of molecules in the PDMS phase was significantly great, and that in the poly(HDFNMA) phase was too low to affect the whole permeation of the grafted PDMS membrane directly. However, the permeation of molecules at the inter face of poly(HDFNMA) and PDMS played an important role because poly(HDFNMA) had a much stronger affinity for TCE than water. At a low feed concentration of the TCE solution, the diffusivity of TCE molecules must be much lower than that of water due to the larger molecular size of TCE. At a high concentration of TCE solution, TCE was sufficiently sorbed into the membrane so that the diffusion of water was prevented by TCE molecules; in turn, the permselectivity of TCE was increased significantly.
Keywords:AQUEOUS-ETHANOL SOLUTIONS, SURFACE MODIFICATION, REMOVAL;POLYMERIZATION, POLYMERS, OXIDE), PERMEABILITY, POLYETHYLENE;COPOLYMERS, PERMEATION