Chitosan hydrogel membranes for pervaporative dehydration of alcohols

In the present study chitosan was crosslinked with glutaraldehyde. Crosslinked (CHI-GL) and non-crosslinked chitosan (CHI) membranes were prepared by solvent evaporation method. FT-IR, AFM and TG/DTG were used to characterize the physicochemical properties of membranes. It was found that crosslinking of the CHI membranes with glutaraldehyde did not influence the surface morphology and thermal stability of membranes. Effect of alcohols (methanol, ethanol, 2-propanol) in aqueous alcohol/water mixtures on the swelling behavior and dehydration by pervaporation were examined. It was found that both membranes possessed hydrophilic properties in contact with alcohol/water mixture. The results demonstrated also that crosslinked chitosan membranes showed a higher permeation flux but a lower selectivity in contact with alcohol/water mixtures. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.