Enhanced glycerol dehydration of pervaporation cross-linked PVA membranes modified by VUV/UV-C treatments

The high glycerol miscibility in water needs more efficient processes to decrease the cost of dehydration. Water stable poly(vinyl alcohol) based membranes cross-linked with 15% w/w of maleic acid were used for dehydrating glycerol-water mixtures using pervaporation (PV). The membranes were characterized using water contact angle, profilometry, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy-attenuated total reflectance, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, water stability, swelling tests, and PV. Membranes were treated using dry methods with vacuum ultraviolet (VUV; 162 nm) or ultraviolet (UV)-C (254 nm) radiation and exposed to O-2 or acrylic acid vapors, respectively. The VUV and UV-C treatments improve PV performances, increasing the water separation selectivity more than 4 and 8.5 times, respectively. UV-C treatments exhibit a water flux (kg m(-2) h(-1)), selectivity and PSI (kg m(-2) h(-1)) of 0.3, 250, and 87.4 respectively. Highly hydrophilic functional groups grafted onto the surface of the membranes after irradiation favor the selective transfer of water through the membrane. Overall, the VUV or UV-C membrane treatments show great PV prospect in glycerol dehydration.