Nanofiltration membranes for ionic liquid recovery

ABSTRACT

Nanofiltration membranes have been developed by interfacial polymerization using base PES ultrafiltration membranes. By varying the concentration of the reactive monomers present as well as the reaction conditions, the structure of the polymerized barrier layer has been modified. Here, the ability to concentrate low molecular weight sugars while allowing dissolved ionic liquids in aqueous solution to be recovered in the permeate has been investigated for application in biomass hydrolysis. The results obtained here indicate that the selectivity for 1-butyl-3-methylimidazoliumchloride (BmimCl) over glucose can be as high as 36.6. The membrane permeance was 2.31 L m⁻² h⁻¹ bar⁻¹.

KEYWORDS:

• Interfacial polymerization
• permeance
• recovery
• rejection
• sugar

Funding

Financial support from the National Science Foundation CBET 1264896 is gratefully acknowledged.

Additional information

Funding

Financial support from the National Science Foundation CBET 1264896 is gratefully acknowledged.