Effect of flouride on preparation and pervaporation performance of NaY zeolite membrane for EtOH/ETBE mixture

Good separation performance NaY zeolite membrane was successfully prepared on the tubular mullite support by fluoride-containing precursor synthesis gel. The fluoride source had a great influence on NaY zeolite membrane growth and separation performance for EtOH/ETBE mixture, the NaF containing precursor gel was benefit for preparing high Si/Al ratio, fine reproduction quality and long-term stable NaY zeolite membrane. Solid state 19F MAS NMR characterization results indicated that the fluorine existed in the channel of NaY zeolite crystals. Both flux and separation factor of the NaY zeolite membrane were greatly depended on the separation temperature and composition of EtOH/ETBE mixtures. The NaY zeolite membrane presented eminent long-term stability for separating 20 wt% EtOH/ETBE mixture at 60 °C, even if the test time was prolonged to 80 h, the flux and separation factor were kept 1.30 kg m−2 h−1 and 1100.