Polyion Complex Chitosan Membrane Consisting of Sodium Alginate/Chitosan for the Pervaporation Separation of Methanol/Methyl tert-butyl Ether Mixtures

The polyion complex (pic) composite membranes consisting of chitosan (cs) and sodium alginate (sa) were prepared for the separation of methanol/methyl tert-butyl ether (mtbe) mixtures via pervaporation process. membrane morphologies showed that cs and sa were homogenously intermixed for all blended ratio tested. swelling characteristics observed all membranes were readily swelled in the solution mixtures containing more methanols. separation performance of the membranes via pervaporation was performed on the effect of sa composition in the membrane blend, effect of mtbe concentration in the feed and effect of feed temperature. overall separation performances showed that the membranes were highly permselective towards methanol due to the affinity and polarity for all the studied parameters.