Abstract
The objective of the present paper was to prepare a ceramic support with membrane. Tubular ceramic supports prepared from kaolin (DD3) and calcium carbonate with 6 and 10 mm inner and outer diameters, respectively, were extruded and sintered at 1200 °C. It has been found that sintered supports had interesting characteristics: average pore size of about 5µm, porosity of about 50%, and monomodal pore size distribution. This support was used to be substrate for a membrane layer of microfiltration. This membrane layer was elaborated from zinc oxide, using slip casting technique. The specimens were subsequently sintered at 1000 °C. The microstructure and porosity as well as the permeability have also been studied. It has been found that the average pore size was about 1.2µm, the layer thickness was ~33µm, and the water permeability measured was about 880 L.h-1.m-2.bar-1.
Keywords:
kaolin (DD3); calcite; supports; membranes; microfiltration; extrusion; slip casting