Membranes Based on Poly[(1-trimethylsilyl)-1-propyne] for Liquid-Liquid Separation

This review surveys the results of studies performed at the Topchiev Institute of Petrochemical Synthesis, Russian Academy of Sciences, and devoted to the design of poly[(1-trimethylsilyl)-1-propyne]-based membranes intended for liquid-liquid separation as applied to the pervaporation recovery of organic products from fermentation broths (preparation of bioethanol and biobutanol) and the nanofiltration separation of organics. The effects of synthesis conditions, molecular-mass characteristics, and chain microstructure on the properties of membranes have been studied. It has been shown that membranes based on poly[(1-trimethylsilyl)-1-propyne], which is prepared with TaCl(5)/Al(i-Bu)(3) and NbCl(5) catalysts, possess good chemical resistance under the conditions of separation of fermentation broths. With the use of poly[(1-trimethylsilyl)-1-propyne], it has been shown for the first time that membranes for the nanofiltration of organic media may be designed on the basis of glassy polymers with a high fraction of the unrelaxed free volume. DOI: 10.1134/S0965545X09110212