Ultra-fine silicalite-1 particles were modified with four kinds of chlorosilanes (dodecyltrichlorosilane, octyltrichlorosilane, hexadecyltrichlorosilane and octadecyltrichlorosilane) and characterized by FI-IR, TGA, contact angle measurements and BET analysis. It was found that the surface hydrophobicity of silicalite-1 particles was improved significantly as the alkyl group was strongly bonded to the particle surface. Modified silicalite-1 particles were incorporated into PDMS (poly(dimethylsiloxanediol)) membranes, which were applied for the pervaporation separation of ethanol/water mixtures. The effect of surface properties, zeolite loading and operation conditions on pervaporation performance of the membranes was investigated. The separation factor of PDMS membranes filled with modified silicalite-1 increased considerably compared with that filled with unmodified ones, and the total flux decreased with increasing zeolite loading. The solution and diffusion selectivity of hybrid membranes were also measured to explain the pervaporation properties of silicalite-1 filled PDMS membranes. It was found that modification of silicalite-1 with dodecyltrichlorosilane effectively improved the solution and diffusion selectivity of silicalite-1 filled PDMS membranes with high zeolite loading. This may be attributed to the high surface hydrophobicity of modified silicalite-1 and its good integration with PDMS membranes. Both the high separation factor and solution selectivity indicated that modification of silicalite-1 with chlorosilanes was an effective method to improve the selectivity of silicalite-1/PDMS hybrid membranes for ethanol.

Graphene oxide (GO), owing to its atomic thickness and tunable physicochemical properties, exhibits fascinating properties in membrane separation fields, especially in water treatment applications (due to unimpeded permeation of water through graphene-based membranes). Particularly, GO-based membranes used for desalination via pervaporation or nanofiltration have been widely investigated with respect to membrane design and preparation. However, the precise construction of transport pathways, facile fabrication of large-area GO-based membranes (GOMs), and robust stability in desalination applications are the main challenges restricting the industrial application of GOMs. This review summarizes the challenges and recent research and development of GOMs with respect to preparation methods, the regulation of GOM mass transfer pathways, desalination performance, and mass transport mechanisms. The review aims to provide an overview of the precise regulation methods of the horizontal and longitudinal mass transfer channels of GOMs, including GO reduction, interlayer cross-linking, intercalation with cations, polymers, or inorganic particles, etc., to clarify the relationship between the microstructure and desalination performance, which may provide some new insight regarding the structural design of high-performance GOMs. Based on the above analysis, the future and development of GOMs are proposed.

There is a lack of stable and hydrophobic organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN) membranes meaning that their implementation in non-polar solvent nanofiltration remains a challenge, typically in solvent (e.g. hexane) recovery during vegetable oil production (e.g. soybean oil/hexane). Considering this, novel trifluoropropylmethylsiloxane dimethylsiloxane (PDMS–PTFPMS)/polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes, with both high hexane permeability of PDMS and excellent hexane stability of PTFPMS, were successfully developed to recover hexane via OSN. Their microstructure and surface properties were characterized by SEM, FTIR, DSC, TGA, XPS and contact angle measurements. We explored the effects of the ratio of the PTFPMS segment in polymer chain and polymer viscosity on membrane performance. With regards to the F50-M membrane, we also conducted a comprehensive study on the OSN performance of the F50-M membrane under different operational conditions. The oil rejection was above 95% with stable hexane permeability of 3.06 kg⁻¹ μm m⁻² h⁻¹ bar⁻¹ over a 32-day period. Experimental results confirmed its ability to recover hexane under various operational conditions, showing high oil rejection and excellent long-term operational stability. We attributed its outstanding performance to its unique microstructure and surface properties due to the fluorine-containing PTFPMS segment. This study indicates that fluoropolymer membranes are promising candidates in OSN processes, offering a wider choice of membrane materials and application fields.

High-poly-aluminum chloride sulfate (HPACS) coagulants with different [SO₄ ²⁻]/[Al³⁺] molar ratio (S) were prepared and proved to have high coagulation efficiency for the removal of humic acid and strong stability for storage and application. The results showed that the higher the SO₄ ²⁻ addition, the bigger the aluminum polymerization particles and the more the polymerization Al_c existed in the prepared HPACS coagulants. The HPACS exhibited higher coagulation efficiency, a better aging stability and stronger resistance to the change of pH and Ca²⁺ concentration of raw water than the polyaluminum chloride (PAC) and poly-aluminum chloride sulfate (PACS) reported before. The Sips adsorption neutralization model was established to illustrate the relationship between coagulant dosage and zeta potential of the water system. The adsorption neutralization capacity was proved to be HPACS (S = 0) > HPACS (S = 0.02) > HPACS (S = 0.06) > HPACS (S = 0.10), which was not completely consistent with the coagulation effect of HPACS with different S values and indicated that in addition to adsorption neutralization, actions like bridge-aggregation, precipitation, and sweep-flocculation also played an important role during HPACS coagulation. Moreover, the negative Gibbs free energy indicated that the coagulant adsorption neutralization reaction was a spontaneous process.