Seeding-free synthesis of large tubular zeolite FAU membranes for dewatering of dimethyl carbonate by pervaporation

Thin, phase-pure and well inter-grown zeolite FAU membranes are synthesized upon modifying the tubular supports using 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES). The as-synthesized zeolite FAU membranes are evaluated in the dewatering of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) by pervaporation . Due to the large pore size (0.74 nm) and high hydrophilicity of zeolite FAU, the prepared zeolite FAU membranes exhibit high water flux and separation performance for the separation of H 2 O and DMC. With increasing the temperature or water content in the feed, the zeolite FAU membranes show higher flux while maintaining high separation factors. Further, for dewatering of 10 wt% H 2 O/90 wt% DMC mixtures at 353 K in a lab device, the DMC concentration in the feed side reaches 99% after continuously dewatering over 9 h. Besides, the zeolite FAU membranes are also successfully prepared on commercial tubular size of 80 cm and 100 cm long α-Al 2 O 3 tubes. The obtained membranes show high separation performance for the dewatering of DMC solution as well. The high-performance zeolite FAU membrane offers great potential for dewatering of DMC solutions in industry.