Beneficent impact of mixed molecular magnet/neodymium powder for facilitating ethanol dehydration in the pervaporation process

[Display omitted] •Application of the beneficial effect of MM/MQFP on separation properties.•Use crucial magnetic fillers into alginate membranes.•Analyzing the synergistic effect on separation efficiency.•Achieving remarkable water/ethanol dehydration performance via pervaporation. The focus of the study concerned the application of alginate membranes enriched with a mixture of Magnequench Fine Powder (MQFP) and a Molecular Magnet [Fe4(acac)6(Br-mp)2] (MM) in different proportions to improve ethanol dehydration via pervaporation. The paper concentrated on how the combined fillers affected the membranes ability to transport the ethanol/water solution components. It was observed that the integration of MM into MQFP not only improved the magnetic properties but also provided a uniform distribution of the filler in the alginate matrix. By merging the properties of two different fillers, we achieved membranes with outstanding separation process performance. This efficiency was unattainable using each filler separately, highlighting the synergistic effect of combining the two fillers. The membrane with 1 wt% MQFP and 9 wt% MM proved to be the most efficient, with the highest Pervaporation Separation Index and separation factor, reaching 40974 kg⋅m−2⋅h−1 and 12735.14, respectively.