Block copolymer pervaporation membrane for in situ product removal during acetone–butanol–ethanol fermentation
Abstract(#br)We address two major challenges facing commercialization of acetone–butanol–ethanol (ABE) fermentation: product inhibition and low productivity. We studied a polystyrene- b -polydimethylsiloxane- b -polystyrene (SDS) triblock copolymer membrane for selective removal of butanol from aqueous solutions by pervaporation. The SDS membrane exhibited higher permeabilities than a commercially available cross-linked polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane.