Pervaporation‐aided dehydration and esterification of acetic acid with ethanol using 4A zeolite‐filled cross‐linked sodium alginate‐mixed matrix membranes

Abstract Filled mixed matrix membranes (MMM) of sodium alginate (NaAlg) were prepared by solution casting method and were filled with 4A zeolite particles in varying compositions from 0 to 10 wt % with respect to weight of NaAlg polymer. Membranes were cross‐linked with glutaraldehyde and tested for pervaporation (PV) dehydration of acetic acid and ethanol in the temperature range from 30 to 70°C. Flux and selectivity data increased simultaneously for both feed mixtures at higher loadings of 4A zeolite, due to its high hydrophilic nature as well as molecular sieving effect in addition to its favorable interaction with hydrophilic NaAlg. At increasing temperature, flux increased, but selectivity decreased. Arrhenius activation parameters for permeation process were dependent upon the extent of filler content. Pervaporation‐aided catalytic esterification of acetic acid with ethanol was attempted at 70°C, resulting in considerable increase of ethyl acetate conversion at reduced reaction time due to continuous removal of water by the membrane. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009