Concentration of aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution by pervaporation

Sagar Roy, Atsawin Thongsukmak, John Tang, Kamalesh K. Sirkar

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

Pervaporative separation of corrosive liquids is always challenging in terms of finding a suitable polymeric membrane that can withstand the harsh environment especially when concentrating an aqueous solution of a highly oxidizing liquid such as hydrogen peroxide (H 2O 2). H 2O 2 is one of the most powerful oxidizers known and is a stronger oxidant than chlorine, chlorine dioxide and potassium permanganate; hydroxyl radical (OH) generated from H 2O 2 has a very high reactivity. The choice of membrane material is potentially limited to fluoro polymers and perfluoro polymers considering membrane stability in such a harsh system. Perfluorodimethyldioxole-tetrafluoroethylene (PDD-TFE) copolymer membranes (CMS-3 and CMS-7) were used to concentrate hydrogen peroxide from its aqueous solutions. The feed solution composition was varied between 4 and ~40wt% H 2O 2; the process was studied at 25°C, 30°C and 35°C. CMS-7 displayed a higher flux than CMS-3; a reverse trend was observed for water-H 2O 2 selectivity for the same feed concentration. The highest water-H 2O 2 selectivity of ~12 was observed in CMS-3 membrane at an H 2O 2 concentration of 43wt% with a total flux of 6.15×10 -3g/hcm 2; for CMS-7, values of 9.2 and 9.6×10 -3g/hcm 2 were found for water-H 2O 2 selectivity and total flux, respectively, at the same H 2O 2 concentration. The total permeated flux increased with temperature at the cost of selectivity for both membranes. Extended-term behaviors of CMS-3 and CMS-7 membranes studied at 35wt% H 2O 2 concentration indicated that both are quite stable for tests carried out over periods of 162 and 145 days respectively.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)17-24
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Membrane Science
Volume389
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1 2012

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Biochemistry
  • General Materials Science
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
  • Filtration and Separation

Keywords

  • Hydrogen peroxide concentration
  • Membrane selectivity
  • PDD-TFE copolymer membranes
  • Pervaporation
  • Stability

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