Supported ionic liquid ceramic membrane reactor for propylene carbonate
continuous production
Abstract
Production of the commercial chemical of propylene carbonate (PC) via
cycloaddition of the sequestered carbon dioxide would dramatically
reduce the carbon footprint. However, industrially conventional CO2
catalytic conversion processes suffer from energy-intensive and lengthy
purification operations. Herein, we report the catalytic membrane
reactor (CMR) that integrates catalytic reaction and pervaporation
functions into a single unit, where the products were transferred in
situ to the permeate side. The morphology, structure and ingredients of
the composite three-layer structure were characterized by SEM, EDS and
XRD, and the effects of ionic liquid loading, temperature and propylene
oxide (PO) flow rate on PO conversion and PO flux in CMR were evaluated
in detail. Under optimized conditions, the PO conversion and PC
selectivity of the continuous process were both close to 100%, with
suitable PO flux of 16.506 mol/m2·h. This work offers a feasible process
for developing an ionic liquid membrane reactor to produce PC.