Preparation and pervaporation performance of CAU-10-H MOF membranes

Abstract Well-intergrown hydrophilic CAU-10-H membranes were successfully prepared by microwave-assisted secondary growth. The as-synthesized CAU-10-H membranes exhibited high and reproducible performance for ethanol dehydration. For a 90 wt% ethanol feed, the CAU-10-H membrane had a total flux of 493 g m-2 h-1 and water/ethanol separation factor of 148 at 65 °C. Along with the increasing temperature or water feed concentration, the total flux increased while the water/ethanol separation factor decreased. The ideal water/ethanol selectivities of the CAU-10-H membranes were found to be significantly lower than its membrane selectivities, demonstrating that the preferential adsorption of water on hydrophilic CAU-10-H membrane to hinder ethanol transport played a prominent part in the ethanol-water separation. The CAU-10-H membranes are capable of being used in acidic conditions, and therefore showing great prospects for industrial applications.