ABSTRACT
Pervaporation is a membrane process that could realize molecular separation for liquid mixtures in which a feed solution is passed over a membrane surface and some of the components are able to preferentially pass through the membrane and be concentrated as vapors in the permeate. The vapor pressure difference between the feed solution and permeate vapor provides the driving force of the pervaporation process, which is usually maintained by applying a vacuum on the downstream side. This chapter discusses progresses in ceramic-supported composite membranes for pervaporation, focusing on nanostructures and separation performance of the membranes derived from the different kinds of materials. The dip-coating method is often used for depositing a thin polymer separation layer on top of a porous ceramic substrate to fabricate polymer/ceramic composite membranes. The polymer precursor is dissolved in solvent to form a polymer solution in which the polymer concentration can be tuned and/or a crosslinker is added to produce a desirable viscosity.
