Abstract
Silk fibroin membranes which were made insoluble by the treatments in saturated water vapor, in ethanol or in 50% ethanol were investigated for water-ethanol permseparation by pervaporation. Permseparation became effective for the feeds with ethanol concentration ranging up to 90% when the membrane thickness was more than 20μm. The permselectivity was somewhat greater with the membranes treated in water vapor than those treated in ethanolic solutions. Activation energy for permeation obtained from the Arrhenius plots was between 5 and 8kcal/mole. Separation factor for water was slightly smaller in the higher temperature range, and was correlated with the higher flux in the region.
