We recently developed a series of membranes based on cross-linked epoxy polymers that have high size-selectivities to separate chemicals for applications in organic solvent nanofiltration.  The membranes were fabricated by mixing diamines with di- or triepoxides to synthesize highly cross-linked polymers. The polymers were characterized by IR spectroscopy, SEM, and Raman spectroscopy. By changing the choice of diamines and epoxides we were able to selectively tune the separation properties of the membranes. This work represents an important advance to investigate how the molecular structure of the membranes affects the separations.  p-Nitrobenzaldehyde and tri(p-tolyl)phosphine differ in molecular weight by a factor of 2x, but by optimizing the monomers used to synthesize the membranes their relative flux was measured to be as high as 250/1. These membranes were applied to the separation of saturated fatty acids and the separation of the key omega-3 fatty acid esters found in fish oil. Both sets of fatty acids had different flux and could be separated. A chemically responsive cross-linked membrane was fabricated from a diamine containing disulfides. The size-selectivity of these membranes was changed by cleaving the disulfide bonds to allow for the separation of a mixture of three chemicals into three purified streams.   <br/>

Highly selective organic solvent nanofiltration membranes based on polyepoxies to separate fatty acids and more

2019 Spring National Meeting

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