Preparation and characterization of low cost porous ceramic membrane support from kaolin using phase inversion/sintering technique for gas separation: effect of kaolin content and non-solvent coagulant bath

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the feasibility of using kaolin as a starting material in ceramic membrane support preparation using phase inversion/sintering technique at different kaolin content and non-solvent coagulant bath. The ceramic suspension was prepared by mixing the kaolin, polyethersulfone (PESf) as binder, N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) as solvent and Arlacel as dispersant using a magnetic stirrer; drying and sintering process at temperature of 1200 °C. By varying the kaolin contents, different morphologies of ceramic support were obtained due to the variations in viscosity of ceramic suspensions. Similarly, different non-solvent coagulant bath was found to affect the membrane support structure through liquid–liquid demixing process and at the same time affected membrane support's roughness, porosity, pore size distribution and strength. All ceramic supports possessed high gas permeation with no separation capability, proven the suitability as ceramic membrane support. The cost for the prepared ceramic membrane support in this work is as low as $5.97, prepared at 54.0 g kaolin content and immersed into distilled water.