The aim of this study was to investigate the dehydration of ethanol using the pervaporation process based on a sweet potato starch-chitosan membrane. The pervaporation process is an alternative to the energyintensive methods of ethanol dehydration, like distillation and crystallization. To improve the properties of the composite membrane by adding a crosslinking agent of glutaraldehyde (1% v/v) and a support membrane of polyethersulfone (PES) were added. The sweet potato starch-chitosan membrane was modified with various concentrations of 100:0, 80:40, 60:40, 50:50, 40:60, 20:80, and 0:100. The characterization of the composite membrane used tests such as swelling degree, permeability, mechanical properties, and SEM to evaluate the hydrophilicity, structure, and performance. The increase of hydrophilicity showed at the value of swelling degree of 204.16 to 226.52%, and permeability of 861.34 to 964.26 L/m2 .hr.bar. The structure of the membrane improved by the addition of glutaraldehyde, shown in the mechanical properties and SEM results. The best composition is a ratio of 50:50 with a crosslinking agent used for dehydration of ethanol with the pervaporation process. The process used ethanol composition (95 wt.%) and was observed for an hour. The value of selectivity in the pervaporation process is 15% with an ethanol concentration of 98%.

Keywords : Pervaporation Process, Sweet Potato StarchChitosan Membrane, Glutaraldehyde, Dehydration of Ethanol