• Membrane Journal
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• 제15권1호
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• pp.15-21
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• 2005

The integrally skinned asymmetric PAN ultrafiltration membranes were annealed for reducing the pore size. The effect of the chemical structure of two PAN polymers (homo- and copolymer) on annealing was investigated. The annealing of PAN polymer was strongly affected by the chemical structure of the polymer. In other words, the annealing effect of the copolymer was much larger than that of the homopolymer due to its less rigid structure of the main chain. Before annealing, the membranes were usually preheated in water in terms of the complete removal of remained solvents in the membranes. The annealing effect was bigger when no preheating. However, the preheating of the membrane before annealing at high temperatures leads to an increase in the pore size of membranes. The surface of the membranes was slightly negative and the salt rejection of PAN nanofiltration membrane was in the following order: R(Na₂SO₄) > R(NaCl) > R(MgSO₄) > R(CaCl₂). This salt rejection behavior could be explained by the Donnan equilibrium and the electroneutrality.

• Membrane Journal
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• 제7권4호
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• pp.167-174
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• 1997

The concentration of silica is required to meet a certain level because silica affects fuel and materials integrity by forming a zeolite layer on fuel cladding surfaces. When the established Feed and Bleed method is employed, nuclear waste increase and the corresponding amount of boric acid is constantly consumed. This study concentrates on minimizing the amount of nuclear waste and consumption of boric acid. Using five different membranes, operating conditions such as temperatur, feed water flow rate, boric acid recovery and silica removal rate were examined. A silica-selective removal system was designed based on the above optimization procedures. Three-stage system was designed with two characteristically different membranes so that it could correspond with the different situation easily. Compared to the pevious results of the Feed and Bleed method, the current method showed that the amount of nuclear waste was reduced to 7%, and the consumption of boric acid to 15.7%.

• Membrane Journal
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• 제25권5호
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• pp.385-390
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• 2015

To determine the pervaporation separation characteristics of IPA/water mixtures, PEI/PDMS hollow fiber membrane module commercialized by Airrane Co. was subjected to both lab and pilot tests. The flux of $0.52kg/m^2h$ and IPA concentration of 68.5% at $25^{\circ}C$ were obtained whereas the $1.368kg/m^2h$ and 61.2% were measured at $55^{\circ}C$. In order to realized the durability of the module, the long-term test (at $50^{\circ}C$) of 100 days has been conducted and as a result, the flux $1.03{\sim}1.15kg/m^2h$ and IPA concentration 61.8~62.5% were maintained with the initial values.

• Membrane Journal
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• 제22권1호
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• pp.1-7
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• 2012

We make a studyof the hydrogen permeability and chemical stability of $Nb_{56}Ti_{23}Ni_{21}$ metal alloy membrane. For this purpose, we produced the $Nb_{56}Ti_{23}Ni_{21}$ membrane which has 10 mm diameter and 0.5 mm thick, and experiment the hydrogen transport properties under two kinds of feed gas ($H_2$ 100%; $H_2$ 60% + $CO_2$ 40%) at $450^{\circ}C$C with variation of absolute pressure.The maximum hydrogen permeation flux was $5.58mL/min/cm^2$ in the absolute pressure 3 bar under pure hydrogen. And each case of feed gases about gas composition, the permeation fluxes were satisfied with Sievert's law, and the hydrogen permeation flux decreased with decrease of hydrogen partial pressure irrespective of temperature and pressure. After permeation test, we experiment the stability and durability of $Nb_{56}Ti_{23}Ni_{21}$ alloy membrane for carbon dioxide by XRD analysis.

• Membrane Journal
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• 제23권5호
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• pp.367-374
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• 2013

In the present study, Pebax-2533 plate membranes were prepared by drying precursor solutions which were obtained by dissolving Pebax-2533 polymer in 1-Propanol/n-Butanol mixed solvents. And then the $CO_2$ and $N_2$ permeation behaviors were tested by using a time-lag system. The prepared Pebax-2533 plate membranes showed a considerable $CO_2/N_2$ separation performance : the $CO_2$ permeability was 130 to 288 barr, and the $CO_2/N_2$ permselectivity was 5-8. The $CO_2$ permeation data obtained by varying feed pressure, permeation temperature, and solvent composition announced that not only the $CO_2$ sorption but also the $CO_2$ diffusion is equally important in the overall $CO_2$ permeation.

• Membrane Journal
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• 제28권6호
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• pp.395-405
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• 2018

Poly(ethylene-co-vinylalcohol) EVOH hollow fiber membranes were successfully fabricated via a thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) method. It was observed that all membranes fabricated under different spinning conditions had interconnected and bicontinuous structures through liquid-liquid phase separation. Glycerol and poly(ethylene glycol) 200 were used as diluents for the TIPS method. Glycerol was used as a mixing component in quenching bath to control pores on the outer surface of the hollow fiber membrane. Hot quenching bath with a mixing component to generate large pores on the outer surface of the hollow fiber membrane. The effects of polymer concentration, diluent and quenching bath on the morphologies, water permeabilities, and mechanical properties of the EVOH hollow fiber membranes were systematically investigated. The relationship between water permeability, mechanical properties and spinning conditions was discussed in detail.

• Membrane Journal
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• 제29권5호
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• pp.252-262
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• 2019

A sulfonated star branched poly(styrene-b-butadiene-b-styrene) triblock copolymer (SSBS) was synthesized with varying degrees of sulfonation. The effective sulfonation on the butadiene block was confirmed by FT-IR spectroscopy. Ion exchange capacity by titration was used to determine the degree of sulfonation. The synthesized polymer observed enhanced water uptake and proton conductivity. At room temperature, the SSBS with 25 mol% degree of sulfonation showed an outstanding proton conductivity of 0.114 S/cm, similar to that of commercial membrane, Nafion. The effect of temperature at constant relative humidity on conductivity resulted to a remarkable increase in proton conductivity. Methanol permeability studies showed a value lower than Nafion for all the sulfonated membranes. Structural nature observed using AFM showed that the membranes observed microphase separated nanostructures and the connectivity of the interionic channels.

• Membrane Journal
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• 제33권4호
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• pp.158-167
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• 2023

The increasing concerns for environmental pollution and depletion of natural resources have prompted the development of environmentally sustainable technologies. Pervaporation has garnered attention in recent decades due to its low energy consumption, environmental impact, and performance efficiency. This method has been used to separate chemical species and dehydrate organic solvents, as the membranes can be fine-tuned to fulfill the desired selectivity. Several separation processes, such as reverse osmosis and distillation, are being utilized in both experimental settings and industrial applications. However, pervaporation has several advantages, such as low operating pressure and temperature and a higher rejection rate. Nonetheless, the current state of membrane technology alone can't suffice the demands of practical applications. Composite membranes, on the other hand, can leverage the benefits of both organic and inorganic materials. Many studies have effectively incorporated inorganic nanomaterials such as graphene oxide (GO) and MXene (MX) in polymeric membranes to tackle the current limitations. This review investigates the recent development of 2D composite membranes in pervaporation and evaluates performance enhancement.

• Membrane Journal
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• 제33권6호
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• pp.305-314
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• 2023

Various methods for removing by-products from chemical reactions are being studied to improve yield of catalytic reaction. Since the water is predominantly generated as a by-product in industrially significant reactions, it is necessary to develop the technology that can reliably remove water over a wide range of temperatures. Although several strategies using absorbents and additional dehydration reactions, have been proposed, they have limitations due to the issues such as additional energy and time consuming steps and sustainability of conversion. Membrane technology, which offers advantages such as easy operation, installation, and low maintenance costs, proves to be a promising approach for enhancing the efficiency of catalysts in various catalytic reactions. Therefore, this review discusses the removal of by-products using membranes and the associated benefits in this context.

• Membrane Journal
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• 제33권6호
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• pp.279-304
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• 2023

Polybenzimidazole (PBI) based membranes have evolved in literature as a popular membrane material for various applications in the past two decades because of their high temperature thermal durability, strong mechanical and tensile properties, high glass transition temperature (T_g), ion conduction ability at elevated temperature (up to 200℃), oxidative or chemical durability along with robust network like structural rigidity, which make PBI membranes suitable for various potential applications in chemically challenging environments. Ion conducting PBI based membranes have been extensively utilized in high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFC). In addition, PBI based membranes have been vastly utilized for the development of gas separation membranes and organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN) membranes for their unique characteristics. This review will cover the recent progress and application of various types of flat sheet PBI based membranes for HT-PEMFC, gas separation and OSN application.