An Organoselective Zirconium-Based Metal-Organic-Framework UiO-66 Membrane for Pervaporation

A UiO-66 membrane was synthesized on an Al2O3 support by an in situ solvothermal method with a coordination modulation technique. We first confirmed the organic selectivity of the UiO-66 membrane for methanol, ethanol, and acetone in mixtures with water. The membrane displayed highly stable pervaporation performance during the test and exhibited a separation factor of approximately 4.3 and a flux of 1.28 kgm(-2)h(-1) in ethanol/water. From the water and ethanol vapor adsorption measurement, the water uptake was lower in a binary system than that in a single system, although the ethanol uptake was similar for the binary and single systems. Therefore, the ethanol selectivity of the UiO-66 membrane can be attributed to the preferential adsorption of the organic compound rather than water, as confirmed by a binary-vapor adsorption measurement.