SYNOPSISNovel ionically cross-linked blended membranes of nylon 6 and poly (acrylic acid) (PAA) were studied for the pervaporation separation of the binary organic mixture of pentane and methanol. Membranes of composition 25 wt % PAA were used after cross-linking. The experimental data obtained from the pervaporation runs were compared with the theoretical values of the individual permeabilities for binary mixtures predicted by the modified Fels and Huang model. This new model is based on a n extension of the free volume theory and the introduction of Flory-Huggins thermodynamics for the calculations of the binary interaction parameters and the diffusion coefficients. The calculated values of permeabilities obtained from this modified model were reasonably close to the experimental values.
I NTRO DUCT1 ONThe present paper is concerned with the use of blending and cross-linking techniques to develop highly permselective membranes for the pervaporation separation of pentane-methanol mixtures over the entire range of compositions. It is a continuation of our investigation on the synthesis and preparation of ionically cross-linked nylon 6-poly ( acrylic acid) (PAA) -blended membranes that have been successfully used for the separation of acetic acid-water and ethanol-water mixture systems and have beenThe present study deals with the separation of pentane-methanol mixtures that forms an azeotrope at 93% wt % pentane. Part I of this investigation dealt with the preparation of the membrane and its characterization in terms of glass transition temperature, morphology, mechanical properties, and water absorption.' Currently, little data are available for such alkane-alcohol mixtures. Aptel et al.' reported a detailed investigation of several constant boiling liquid systems comprising water aphotic solvents, water alcohol, and water alkane mixtures. They have reported data for ethanol-hexane mixtures that are close to the system presently being reported. Another similar system is that of methanol and hexane which has been reported by Cabasso." They used different membranes including ion-exchange membranes ( Nafion ) and highly crosslinked quaternary poly ( phenylene oxide ) ( PPO ) membranes for this purpose. Thompson et a1.l' recently reported experimental results on the hexaneheptane and toluene-ethanol systems. The specific goals of this research are the synthesis and preparation of nylon 6-PAA ionically cross-linked membranes prepared according to the methods described earlier, 1-6 and the subsequent pervaporation separation of the pentane-methanol mixtures in terms of permeabilities and separation factors. The pervaporation results were then compared with the calculated values using the modified Fels-Huang model that recently has been r e p~r t e d . '~.~~ This new model is based on an extension of the free-volume theory and the introduction of the Flory-Huggins thermodynamics for the calculation of the binary inter-
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