Pervaporative performance of a PDMS/blended PES composite membrane for removal of toluene from water
Abstract(#br)A new membrane is developed, which is composed of highly crosslinked polydimethylsiloxane as the active layer on a support layer containing polyethersulfone and an appropriate additive (polyvinylpyrrolidone or polyethyleneglycol). The effect of porosity of the support layer on the performance of the fabricated membrane for pervaporative removal of toluene as a representative volatile organic compound from water is then studied. The support layer represents high porosity to improve the permeation rate of the composite membrane while it preserves the reasonable enrichment factor.