PERFORMANCE OF MEMBRANES CROSSLINKED WITH GLUTARALDEHYDE IN PERVAPORATION SEPARATION

S.H. Tan (School of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia)
A.L. Ahmad (School of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia)
M.G. Mohd. Nawawi (Faculty of Chemical & Natural Resources Engineering, Department or ChemicaI Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Skudai, Johor Bahru, Malaysia)
H. Hassan (Faculty of Chemical & Natural Resources Engineering, Department or ChemicaI Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Skudai, Johor Bahru, Malaysia)

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development
Vol. 19 No. 2 (2002): ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development (AJSTD)

Chitosan membranes crosslinked with glutaraldehyde (GA) were prepared through a solution method, where the dry homogeneous chitosan membranes were immersed into the reaction solutions containing 1.25 x 10-3 wt. % of glutaraldehyde (GA). The extent of the crosslinking was controlled by varying the crosslinking time from 1 to 5 minutes. The prepared crosslinked membranes were used for pervaporation dehydration of isopropanol-water mixtures. The influence of feed composition on the separation characteristics has been investigated. The 2-minute-crosslinked-membrane yields the highest water concentrations in the permeate with moderate flux at 50 wt. % of isopropanol in the feed solution. The overall pervaporation results for the homogeneous and crosslinked membranes are compared in term of pervaporation separation index (PSI). The crosslinked membranes showed higher pervaporation separation index (PSI) than that of uncrosslinked membranes especially for isopropanol in feed solution below 78 wt. %.