The development of ceramic membranes for the most diverse separation processes has gained high visibility, mainly due to their better performance in harsh environments in comparison to polymeric materials. Among the different techniques used to prepare tubular ceramic membranes, the centrifugal casting (CC) is interesting for obtaining highly homogeneous structures, essential for gas separations. This study assessed the influence of two sintering temperatures (1450 and 1500 °C) of alumina membranes prepared by CC on the membrane morphology and on the permeation of helium, nitrogen and oxygen gases. The membranes were characterized by their morphology, apparent porosity, and gas permeation. The results indicated that the sintering temperature is a fundamental parameter for controlling membrane properties, an increase of only 50 °C led to a tenfold decrease in the gas permeate flux, indicating densification of membrane porous structure. This was in accordance with the results observed in the membrane micrographs and the apparent porosity.
Resumo Membranas de compósitos Pd/α-Al2O3 com uma e duas camadas de Pd foram preparadas pelo processo electroless plating sobre tubos cerâmicos porosos. A análise de espectroscopia por dispersão de energia confirmou a composição química do suporte cerâmico (Al e O) e da membrana com Pd (Al, O e Pd), bem como a espessura da camada de Pd de 0,8 μm (uma camada) e 1,3 μm (duas camadas). As imagens de microscopia eletrônica de varredura mostraram que a superfície da membrana foi mais uniforme com uma camada do que duas camadas de Pd. O difratograma de raios X registrou picos referentes à fase α-alumina. A porosimetria por intrusão de mercúrio apresentou diâmetro de poro em torno de 5 nm e volume máximo de Hg intrudado de 0,0081 cm3.g-1. Os testes de permeabilidade aos gases mostraram que as membranas possuem seletividade α de 3,79 para o par H2/CO2 com um camada de Pd e de α=3,43 para o par H2/CH4 com duas camadas de Pd.
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