Poly(vinyl alcohol)-graphene oxide nanohybrid "pore-filling" membrane for pervaporation of toluenein-heptane mixtures

The stability of the membrane for pervaporation separation of aromatic/aliphatic mixtures is critical for industrial applications. To improve the stability of the membrane, a "pore-filling" membrane was prepared by dynamic pressure-driven assembly of a poly(vinyl alcohol)-graphene oxide (OVA-GO) nanohybricl layer onto an asymmetric polyaci:ylonitrile ultrafiltration membrane. The results of the swelling experiment suggest that the pore-filling structure could effectively reduce swelling of the nanohybricl membrane. Assembly of the nanohybricl membrane by molecular-level dispersion of GO in OVA led to enhanced affinity of the membrane to aromatic compounds and thus improved performance in the pervaporation of toluene/ii-heptane mixtures. Moreover, the dynamic assembly process could easily be used to adjust the separation performance by controlling the pressure, filtration time, polymer, and GO concentration. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.