The Al3+Sensitivity of Chitosan-Silk Fibroin Complex Membrane on Swelling and Its Application on Chemical Valve for the Separation of Isopropanol-Water Mixture

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Abstract
A novel natural biopolymer complex membrane, namely, a crosslinked chitosan-silk fibroin complex membrane (semi-IPN membrane) was prepared. The complex membranes manifested a good ion sensitivity when swelled in AlCl3 aqueous solutions with different concentrations. According to its different swelling values with different Al3+ concentrations, the complex membrane could act as a chemical valve to control the flux of isopropanol-water mixture when separated by pervaporation. The pervaporation results indicated that the flux also showed an ion sensitivity when the Al3+ content in the feed was changed. In the meantime, the ion sensitivity of the flux expressed the same tendency as that of the swelling ratio. In addition, the flux of isopropanol-water mixture was significantly improved while the high selectivity was maintained when suitable amount of AlCl3 was added to the feed.