The fabrication, characterization, and pervaporation performance of poly(ether-block-amide) membranes blended with 4-(trifluoromethyl)-N(pyridine-2-yl)benzamide and 4-(dimethylamino)-N(pyridine-2-yl)benzamide fillers

Hybrid separation materials intended for the hydrophobic pervaporation process with a new type of fillers were generated. Membranes based on poly(ether block amide) (Peba 2533) containing two organic fillers: 4-(trifluoromethyl)-N-(pyridine-2-yl)benzamide (denoted as F1) and 4-(dimethylamino)-N-(pyridine-2-yl)benzamide (denoted as F2) were fabricated. Novel materials were systematically characterized from the material point of view and subsequently applied in the pervaporative separation of binary water-organic mixture. The correlation between the type (e.g. hydrophobicity) and amount of the filler on the membrane performance has been discussed. The pervaporation performance was assessed for ethanol/water mixture containing 5 wt% ethanol at temperatures ranging from 30 °C to 60 °C. The separation factor (β), thickness normalized total and partial permeate fluxes (Jt,N and Ji,N), and thickness normalized Pervaporation Separation Index (PSIN) were utilized for evaluation of the process. The best efficiency in recovery of ethanol from a mixture containing 5 wt% of ethanol was found for the membranes containing 2.5 wt% of F1 (membrane denoted as PF1-2.5) and 10 wt% of F2 (membrane denoted as PF2-10). The incorporation of the organic fillers improved the pervaporation performance of the PEBA membrane, regarding both permeate flux and separation factor. The highest normalized flux of 28.9 μm kg m-2h−1 and separation factor of 4.6 was achieved at 60 °C, using PF1-2.5 in contact with 5 wt% ethanol as feed.