Polymers and membranes for separation of polar organic compounds from aqueous mixtures and methods of using
A polymer having a contact angle with water that is greater than or equal to 90° and a contact angle with 1,3-propane diol that is less than 90°. A pervaporation membrane comprising the polymer and a process for purifying a fermentation broth using a pervaporation membrane comprising the polymer is also described.
1. A pervaporation membrane comprising a polymer having a contact angle with water that is greater than or equal to 90° and a contact angle with 1,3-propane diol that is less than 90° wherein the polymer comprises allylcyclohexylamine functionalized polysiloxane or repeating units derived from an allylcyclohexylamine based acrylate.
2. The pervaporation membrane of claim 1 , wherein the polymer comprises allylcyclohexylamine functionalized polysiloxane and the membrane further comprises styrene-butyl acrylate copolymer.
3. The pervaporation membrane of claim 1 , wherein the polymer comprises a repeating unit derived from an imidazolium functionalized acrylate monomer having a dibutyl phosphate counter ion.
4. The pervaporation membrane of claim 1 , wherein the membrane has a separation factor of 1,3-propane diol relative to water of greater than or equal to 5.
5. The pervaporation membrane of claim 4 , wherein the membrane has a separation factor of 1,3-propane diol relative to glycerin greater than or equal to 1.5.
6. The process for purifying a fermentation broth comprising:
contacting the broth with the pervaporation membrane of claim 1 pervaporation conditions to produce a product comprising 1,3-propane diol wherein the pervaporation membrane comprises a polymer having a contact angle with water that is greater than or equal to 90° and a contact angle with 1,3-propane diol that is less than 90° and the fermentation broth comprises 1,3-propane diol.
7. The process of claim 6 , further comprising removing solids from the fermentation broth prior to contact with the pervaporation membrane.
8. The process of claim 6 , further comprising distilling the product comprising 1,3-propane diol.
9. The process of claim 6 , wherein the pervaporation membrane has an upstream side and a downstream side and a gauge pressure on the upstream side is less than 10 atmospheres and absolute pressure on the downstream side is less than 50 millimeters of Hg.
10. The process of claim 6 , wherein the temperature of the fermentation broth is 15 to 50° C.
11. The process of claim 6 , wherein the pervaporation membrane has a mass uptake of pure water less than 1% and a mass uptake of pure 1,3-propane diol greater than 2.5%.
12. The process of claim 6 , wherein the pervaporation membrane has a separation factor of 1,3-propane diol relative to water greater than or equal to 5.
13. The process of claim 6 , wherein the polymer comprises repeating units derived from allylcyclohexylamine or tributyl phosphate.
14. The process of claim 13 , wherein the polymer comprises allylcyclohexylamine functionalized polysiloxane.
15. The process of claim 14 , wherein the membrane further comprises a styrene-butyl acrylate copolymer.
16. The process of claim 13 , wherein the polymer comprises a repeating unit derived from an allylcyclohexylamine based acrylate.
17. The process of claim 13 , wherein the polymer comprises a repeating unit derived from an imidazolium functionalized acrylate monomer having a dibutyl phosphate counter ion.