Bahareh Baheri - Research Centre for Membrane Separation Processes, Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST), Narmak, Tehran, Iran
Mahnaz Shahverdi
Mashallah Rezakazemi
Toraj Mohammadi

Separation of water–ethylene glycol (EG) mixtures is important in the industry of EG production. Dehydration of ethylene glycol (EG)–water mixtures was studied by synthesized mixed matrix composite membranes (MMCMs). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed homogeneous distribution of zeolite nanoparticles within the polymer matrix. The pervaporation (PV) experiments were carried out to study the effects of zeolite loading on separation performance of the MMCMs. From the experimantal results, it can be concluded that loading of zeolite 4A enhanced the membrane performance both in permeation flux and separation factor at optimal 5 wt.% zeolite loading.

Pervaporation; Mixed matrix membrane; Composite membrane; Ethylene glycol dehydration; Zeolite 4A nanoparticles