Preparation and characterization of α-cyclodextrin-containing membranes—application to the selective extraction of xylene isomers

Polymer membranes containing α-cyclodextrin (α-CD) were prepared by the casting method using cross-linking reaction with hexamethylenediisocyanate. The film synthesis conducted with and without dibutyltin dilaurate as catalyst, resulted in two series of materials in which α-CD host entities were chemically linked to polyvinyl alcohol and physically entrapped, respectively. The obtained membranes were successfully applied to the separation of o-/p- and o-/m-xylene isomer mixtures by pertraction from water. p- and m-xylenes were found to be the faster permeants compared to the o-isomer. The separation factor of p-xylene over o-xylene varied from 7.75 to 0.35 depending on the membrane α-CD content and the feed concentration ratio. Permeation rate and separation selectivity data were discussed in terms of molecular recognition by α-CD and of coupling transport effect. Both kinds of materials showed similar behaviour in their permeation performances indicating that inclusion interaction was not changed by the chemical grafting on PVA chains.