Isopropanol dehydration performance of a novel MXene membrane based on a α-Al2O3 carrier tube

Two-dimensional transition metal carbon (nitrogen) compound MXene (Ti3C2Tx) has been widely concerned in the field of membrane separation because of its hydrophilicity and adjustable layer spacing. However, laminar flow MXene films are easy to be peeled off from the substrate. Therefore, the key to its industrial application is to select appropriate substrate materials and increase the adhesion between MXene films and substrate materials. The MXene pervaporation separation membrane material was prepared by self-cross-linking reaction using α-Al2O3 particles and SiO2-ZrO2 sol as the support of macroporous α-Al2O3 ceramic tube. The effects of Ti3C2Tx nanosheet loading, isopropanol concentration and operating temperature on the pervaporation separation performance of MXene membrane in isopropanol/water system were investigated. The results showed that: The layered structure formed by MXene nanosheets was conducive to blocking large diameter isopropanol molecules from passing through the interlayer pore. When the loading of MXene nanosheets was 1.97mg/cm2, MXene membrane exhibited high dehydration performance at 55℃ for 90% isopropanol/water system, and the water content of the permeation side was 95.51%. The flux can reach 485.13g/(m2·h). The new MXene membrane based on macroporous α-Al2O3 carrier tube had stable structure and good separation performance, and had broad application prospects in pervaporation of organic solvent dehydration. © 2023 Chemical Industry Press. All rights reserved.