P84/ZIF-8 mixed matrix membranes for pervaporation dehydration of isopropanol

In this study, zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) nanoparticles were successfully synthesized and embedded into P84 polymeric matrix to prepare P84/ZIF-8 mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) to investigate the effect of ZIF-8 addition as a new filler on dehydration performance of the P84 polymeric membrane. MMMs were evaluated using pervaporation (PV) dehydration of isopropanol (IPA). Synthesized ZIF-8 nanoparticles and MMMs were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and swelling study. PV performance of the prepared MMMs with various ZIF-8 loadings such as 2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10 wt%, for IPA dehydration was investigated at 25 degrees C. The results showed that for the ZIF-8/P84 MMMs at the optimum loading (5 wt%), the total flux increases 11% without any reduction in separation factor. The present work demonstrates good PV performance of the ZIF-8 incorporated MMMs for dehydration of IPA.