Abstract
Separation of aqueous ethanol solutions by pervaporation using graft-coplymerized cellulose membranes was investigated on the basis of the results obtained previously. Polyanions, polycations and polybetains were introduced into cellulose membranes by grafting. These chemically modified cellulose membranes were expected to have selective separation functions of the water/ethanol mixtures due to high affinity to the solutions . Permeation rates (flux) and separation selectivity of the prepared membranes were evaluated by the pervaporation experiments. High permeation rates were obtained for the membranes with increasing pervaporation temperature. Relationships between permeation rate and separation selectivity obtained for the membranes were well explainable in terms of the molecular diffusion mechanism in this separation system. The high separation of various ceuulose-related membranes obtained in this study indicates the potentials of further development of the pervaporation technique.
