Abstract
A porous carbon membrane plate (PCMP) was prepared from some kinds of phenol resins and rice husks by carbonization in a N2 stream and activation in a CO2 stream under high pressure. Effect of the carbonization/activation time and temperature, heating rate, ratio of the phenol resins and particle diameter of the raw material (rice husks) on density and strength of the PCMP was examined. The PCMP was applied for the pervaporation separation of acidic solutions, i.e., a mixture of acetic acid and water or HCl and water. Water in the acid solutions more selectively permeated through the PCMP than large size acetic acid, or HCl. For instance, the separation factor was more than 100 for the 77% of acetic acid mixture (water content 23%). This results shows that the PCMP has molecular sieving property for the pervarporation separation. Even though in the case of hydrochloric acid solutions, water was percolated through the PCMP. The PCMP could pass through the small size dehydration water in the hydrochloric acid.
