초록
<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>Xylitol is a by-product that is obtained from the production of bioethanol. A lignocellulosic biomass contains an abundance of xylose that acts as a precursor in the production of xylitol. The xylitol produced from biomass sources through biological route is a cleaner production than the common chemical route, which involves least sustainable processes. However this xylitol may contain other impurities and sugars that are difficult to separate due to their close molecular weights. A highly concentrated xylitol can potentially be obtained through the use of a pressure filtration membrane as a potential cleaner production technology due to the unique properties of the membrane including low energy requirement, high separation performance, and high selectivity between xylitol and sugars. In this work, a specially blended polymeric membrane was synthesized, characterized and tested in the recovery of xylitol from a synthetic biomass fermentation solution. Pluronic f127 at different ratios of 1, 3, and 5% was blended with Polyethersulfone (PES) to modify the PES membrane. The effect of the Pluronic ratio on the selectivity of the PES membrane in the separation of xylitol from sugars and also the fouling mitigation effect under the presence of Pluronic in the membrane were investigated. The results showed an improvement in the hydrophilicity of the membrane, where the contact angle of the pure PES membrane dropped from 80° to 65° following the addition of Pluronic at different ratios. The water flux also increased with an increase in the Pluronic ratio. The rejection of xylitol was found to decrease in the presence of Pluronic, and a reasonable xylitol selectivity was obtained. Surprisingly, the selectivity of the membrane towards xylitol was further enhanced by the presence of ethanol in the synthetic fermentation solution. Therefore, the PES blended Pluronic membrane was shown to have a great potential for the separation of xylitol from sugars.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> Lignocellulosic biomass is enriched with pentose sugars. </LI> <LI> Xylitol is produced from bioconversion of pentose sugars. </LI> <LI> Membrane technology gives better separation performance in xylitol-sugars mixture. </LI> <LI> PES fabricated membranes could separate uncharged and similar sugars in mixture. </LI> <LI> Ethanol presence in mixture influences solution solubility. </LI> </UL> </P> <P><B>Graphical abstract</B></P> <P>[DISPLAY OMISSION]</P>