Synthesis and pervaporation properties of A-type zeolite membrane prepared by adding TMAOH

A-type zeolite membrane was synthesized on the tubular α-Al₂O₃ supported by adding a small mount of tetramethylammonium hydroxide(TMAOH) in the clear synthesis solution. The as-synthesized A-type membrane was characterized by XRD and SEM. The pervaporation properties of the as-synthesized membrane were evaluated by dehydration of glycol/water mixture. The XRD shows only A-type zeolite emerges on the α-Al₂O₃ support surface. The SEM shows the support surface is fully covered by uniform and dense A-type zeolite membrane. The addition of TMAOH facilitates to decrease the particle size and membrane thickness results in the increasing of the perm-selective properties of the A-type zeolite membrane. At 343,353 and 363 K, when water amount in the feed is m (water)/m(glycol)=85:15, the separation factors are greater than 10000 and the flux is 2.88, 3.18 and 5.08kg·(m²·h)^-1, respectively. At the above temperature, the flux increases with the increment of the water amount in the feed. With the same water amount, the flux increases with the increment of the temperature.