Development of Ceramic Supports Derived from Low-Cost Raw Materials for Membrane Applications and its Optimization Based on Sintering Temperature

Abstract

In this work, a macroporous ceramic support was fabricated using inexpensive clays available in India by uniaxial compaction technique. Green ceramic supports were developed by mixing of kaolin, pyrophyllite, feldspar, ballclay, quartz, and calcium carbonate of desired composition with polyvinyl alcohol as a binder and were sintered at different temperatures (850°C, 900°C, 950°C, and 1000°C). The raw materials and sintered supports were characterized using thermogravimetric analysis, particle size distribution (PSD), X‐ray diffraction, and scanning electron micrograph analysis. The effect of sintering temperature on porosity, mean pore size, pore size distribution, shrinkage, flexural strength, and pure water permeability was investigated. Chemical stability tests for the sintered supports were conducted with 20 wt% of H2SO4, HCl, and NaOH solutions and the supports showed good chemical resistance. The porosity of the sintered supports was in the range of 41–46%. It was observed that the average pore diameter and flexural strength of the supports increases with increase in sintering temperature. Based on these results, the support sintered at 950°C (porosity=44%, mechanical strength=28 MPa, and average pore diameter=1.01 μm) was considered as the optimum support for membrane applications. Solvent permeation studies were conducted for 950°C sintered support and the results confirmed that the support was hydrophobic in nature.

Influence of starch content on the properties of low-cost microfiltration ceramic membranes

“…Other membranes whose composition was based on a mixture of inexpensive raw materials (kaolin, quartz and different carbonates) displayed a similar trend: the porosity decreased from 40% to 22% when the sintering temperature increased from 900 to 1000ºC whereas the average pore size coarsened from 2.6 to 5.5 µm [30]. Similar trend have been found in ceramic membranes developed from a mixture of kaolin, pyrophyllite, feldspar, ball clay, quartz, and calcium carbonate: the porosity initially grew and then decreased in the range of 41-46 % and the average pore diameter augmented from 0.87 to 1.10 µm with an increment of sintering temperature from 850 to 1000ºC [31].…”

Separation of bovine serum albumin (BSA) using γ‐Al2O3–clay composite ultrafiltration membrane

“…The characterization of the support has been reported elsewhere. 41,52 Pore formation in the support was found to occur during sintering due to the evolution of gases, phase transformation and dehydration/dehydroxylation of the clay material. During sintering, CaCO 3 present in the clay mixture is converted to CaO and the exiting CO 2 produces the pores on the surface of the clay support.…”

Development of ceramic membranes from low-cost clays for the separation of oil–water emulsion

“…Moreover, a volume median diameter (d 0.5 ) of the raw material mixtures is found to be 7.3, 5.9, 5.0, and 4.8 μm for the membranes SP1, SP2, SP3, and SP4, respectively. These sized raw material mixtures would be reasonably useful for preparation of porous fly ashbased membrane with maximum porosity [33,34,35].…”