Sodium zeolite-Y (NaY zeolite) filled chitosan polymeric membranes were developed and characterized. The impact of adding different concentrations of NaY zeolite into the homogeneous chitosan membrane was investigated. The surface morphology, mechanical-physical properties, sorption, and pervaporation performance for the dehydration of isopropanol-water mixture separation by the pervaporation process were studied and evaluated. A homogeneous chitosan membrane showed preferential water sorption and permeation compared to isopropanol. The optimum concentration of NaY zeolite added to the homogeneous chitosan membrane was 0.4 wt %, which showed that the dispersion of the NaY zeolite was the most homogeneous and finely covered by the chitosan polymer in the zeolite-chitosan polymer interface. The tensile strength and percent strain at maximum of this membrane were 59.347 MPa and 27.5%, respectively. The sorption experiments showed that the degree of swelling was 6.54% with 1.01 wt % isopropanol sorbed in these membranes. The pervaporation separation tests demonstrated that the NaY zeolite filled chitosan membrane was capable for isopropanol-water mixture separation and improved the pervaporation separation index from 272 (homogeneous chitosan membrane) to 2687.

NH 4 Y zeolite-filled chitosan membranes were developed for the separation of water-isopropanol mixture using pervaporation process. The NH 4 Y zeolite-filled chitosan membranes were prepared using a solution technique with the variation of NH 4 Y zeolite loading (0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5 wt.%). The membranes morphologies were studied using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and the membranes mechanical strength were tested using the parameter of tensile strength and percent strain at maximum. The effects of NH 4 Y zeolite loading on the liquid sorption characteristics and pervaporation performance were also evaluated. The diffusion coefficient of water and isopropanol for the chitosan membranes at different NH 4 Y zeolite loading is estimated. The presence of NH 4 Y zeolite in the chitosan membranes caused nonhomogeneous dispersion of NH 4 Y zeolite crystals and membrane swelling due to its hydrophilic properties. However, the presence of NH 4 Y zeolite was able to improve both tensile strength and percent strain at maximum of chitosan membranes. The presence of NH 4 Y zeolite also increased the total permeation flux and separation factor simultaneously. The Pervaporation Separation Index shows that 0.2 wt.% of NH 4 Y zeolite-filled membrane gave the optimum performance in the pervaporation process. The diffusion coefficient estimated proves that the membranes were highly water selective.