Polymeric nanofibrous composite membranes for energy efficient ethanol dehydration

Ethanol derived from the fermentation process (e. g., from corn) is widely used as a blend to improve the air quality and to decrease the demand for gasoline. During the production process, ethanol dehydration is usually carried out by azeotropic distillation, which consumes about twice amount of energy than the pervaporation method. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate an energy-efficient nanofibrous composite pervaporation membrane system for production of dehydrated ethanol. The nanofibrous membrane system consists of a cross-linked polyvinyl alcohol hydrophilic barrier layer, an buffer layer based on ultra-fine cellulose nanofibers (diameter about 5 nm), and an electrospun nanofibrous scaffold layer with high porosity (e. g., 80%) and fully interconnected pore structures. The performance between the conventional pervaporation membranes and nanofibrous composite membranes was compared under the same pervaporation conditions. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4739760]