Abstract
Separation performance of acrylamide gel membranes for ethanol/water mixtures is greatly affected by the effective size of the pores in the network and the network’s homogeneity. With increasing concentration of crosslinker (N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide), coarse and dense parts of a networks, i.e., the heterogeneous structure, are produced in the gels, though the effective size of the pores in the network must be reduced. Such a heterogeneous structure appears remarkably at low concentration of primary monomer (acrylamide). The coarse part of the network significantly affects the leakage of ethanol molecules through a membrane and the state of water in the gels, which is closely related to the selective permeation of water through the membrane. As a result, optimum gel compositions exist for the permeation of water and for the obstruction of ethanol permeation, respectively.
