Prediction of separating characteristics of pervaporation membranes by inverse gas chromatography

The potentiality of inverse gas chromatography to predict separating properties of pervaporation membranes is studied for the example of a membrane composed of a mixture of polyvinyl alcohol and polyacrylic acid. Correlation relationships between the retention time of substances and relative rate of their mass transfer across the membrane were derived. A comparative method for assessment of the membrane selectivity was suggested proposed, and its consistency was checked for pervaporation separation of methanol-methyl acetate-water-acetic acid, methanol-toluene, and ethanol-ethyl acetate mixtures, including those with an azeotropic composition.