AF2400/polyketone composite organic solvent reverse osmosis membrane for organic liquid separation

Organic liquid separation is frequently encountered in chemically relevant industries. Herein, an organic solvent reverse osmosis (OSRO) membrane fabricated by spin coating a Teflon polymer, AF2400, onto a solvent-resistant polyketone support is proposed for organic liquid separation. Nonpolar AF2400 promotes the permeation of nonpolar liquids while inhibiting the transportation of polar liquids, resulting in the efficient separation of polar and nonpolar liquids. A mixture of ethanol and 1-hexane was used as a model, and the effects of feed composition, applied pressure, and filtration time on separation performance were investigated. The optimized membrane demonstrated an impressively high separation factor of 9.5 for 1-hexane over ethanol and an acceptable flux of 1.6 kg m−2 h−1 under 4 MPa (a permeance of 0.04 kg m−2 h−1 bar−1), outperforming the reported membranes in selectivity. The separation performances in alcohol/1-hexane, ethanol/alkane, and ethanol/toluene mixtures were also investigated and the results demonstrated that the molecular size and polarity of the liquids affected the selectivity. The developed membrane contributes to the development of energy-efficient approaches for separating organic liquids.