Ceramic Membrane Made of Alumina Synthesized by Pechini Method for Application in Microfiltration Processes

Abstract

Given the diversity of areas in which applications of ceramic membranes are included, the literature has shown great interest of researchers to obtain these materials with powders synthesized by different chemical methods. Thus, this work aims at the synthesis of alumina by Pechini method, the 2:1 ratio of citric acid: metal cations, calcined to 1100°C, to obtain membranes. The synthesized powders were characterized by thermal analysis, XRD and particle size distribution, since the membranes were characterized by SEM and mercury porosimetry. The results for the obtained powders showed total mass loss of 61.60%, an alpha-alumina phase with crystallite size of 45.2 nm. As for the membranes, these showed heterogeneously distributed particles with different sizes and irregular geometry, reaching average pore diameter of 0.6 μm me 47% porosity, and thus are characterized for application in microfiltration processes.