| Title: | A Methyl-Modified Silica Layer Supported on Porous Ceramic Membranes for the Enhanced Separation of Methyl Tert-Butyl Ether from Aqueous Solution |
| Author(s): | Xu L; Wang Y; Li Q; Cui S; Tang M; Nie Z; Wei Q; |
| Address: | "Faculty of Materials and Manufacturing, Beijing University of Technology, 100 Pingleyuan, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100124, China. Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research, Beijing 100094, China" |
| DOI: | 10.3390/membranes12050452 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 2077-0375 (Print) 2077-0375 (Electronic) 2077-0375 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "As a kind of volatile organic compound (VOC), methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) is hazardous to human health and destructive to the environment if not handled properly. MTBE should be removed before the release of wastewater. The present work supported the methyl-modified silica layer (MSL) on porous alpha-Al(2)O(3) ceramic membranes with methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) as a precursor and pre-synthesized mesoporous silica microspheres as dopants by the sol-gel reaction and dip-coating method. MTMS is an environmentally friendly agent compared to fluorinated alkylsilane. The MSL-supported Al(2)O(3) ceramic membranes were used for MTBE/water separation by pervaporation. The NMR spectra revealed that MTMS evolves gradually from an oligomer to a highly cross-linked methyl-modified silica species. Methyl-modified silica species and pre-synthesized mesoporous silica microspheres combine into hydrophobic mesoporous MSL. MSL makes the alpha-Al(2)O(3) ceramic membranes transfer from amphiphilic to hydrophobic and oleophilic. The MSL-supported alpha-Al(2)O(3) ceramic membranes (MSL-10) exhibit an MTBE/water separation factor of 27.1 and a total flux of 0.448 kg m(-2) h(-1), which are considerably higher than those of previously reported membranes that are modified by other alkylsilanes via the post-grafting method. The mesopores within the MSL provide a pathway for the transport of MTBE molecules across the membranes. The presence of methyl groups on the external and inner surface is responsible for the favorable separation performance and the outstanding long-term stability of the MSL-supported porous alpha-Al(2)O(3) ceramic membranes" |
| Keywords: | MTBE/water separation performance hydrophobicity long-term stability methyl-modified silica layer one-pot synthesis pervaporation; |
| Notes: | "PubMed-not-MEDLINEXu, Ligang Wang, Yali Li, Qunyan Cui, Suping Tang, Mingxue Nie, Zuoren Wei, Qi eng 21171014/National Natural Science Foundation of China/ 51621003/National Natural Science Fund for Innovative Research Groups/ Switzerland 2022/05/29 Membranes (Basel). 2022 Apr 22; 12(5):452. doi: 10.3390/membranes12050452" |
