Blend membranes of sodium alginate/poly(styrene sulfonic acid) for isopropanol dehydration

Abstract

This paper addresses the preparation of blend membranes of sodium alginate (NaAlg) with 5 and 10 wt% of poly(styrene sulfonic acid) (PSSA) that are cross-linked with glutaraldehyde to investigate pervaporation (PV) dehydration of isopropanol at different temperatures and membrane thicknesses. NaAlg with 10 wt% PSSA membrane offered higher values of flux and selectivity than pristine NaAlg membrane. Activation parameters were computed to explain the transport results. Membrane selectivity increased, but flux decreased with increasing membrane thickness; however, a reverse trend was observed at increasing temperature. © 2008 VSP.