Fabrication and characterization of superhydrophobic PDMS composite membranes for efficient ethanol recovery via pervaporation
Abstract(#br)Bio-ethanol, clean and renewable, has proved to be a promising alternative energy resource to replace conventional fossil fuels. In its continuous production via the fermentation–pervaporation process, hydrophobic polymer membranes such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) have been developed to enrich ethanol from dilute fermentation broth. However, the efficiency of current ethanol recovery via pervaporation is not high enough for large-scale bioethanol production.