Separation of Benzene-Isooctane Mixtures Using Poly(Vinyl Alcohol) / Graphene Composite Pervaporation Membranes

By : Harshal A. Gulhane, Z.V.P. Murthy

Page No: 439-453

Abstract
Poly(vinyl alcohol)/graphene composite membranes were prepared and used in pervaporation to separate benzene-isooctane mixtures. The prepared membranes were characterized by SEM, XRD, FTIR, TGA, degree of swelling and contact angle to examine properties of composite membranes. The performance of the poly(vinyl alcohol)/graphene membranes was studied for the feed composition range 15-60 wt% benzene at different temperatures (45-60°C). The optimized membrane separation performance was reported in terms of flux (1.28 g m-2 h-1), selectivity (48.66) and pervaporation separation index (61.21) at 60°C. The maximum percentage of benzene in permeate was 89.57% at 15 wt% benzene in feed solution.

Authors :
Harshal A. Gulhane and Z.V.P. Murthy : Department of Chemical Engineering, S. V. National Institute of Technology, Surat – 395 007, Gujarat, India