Morphological Influence of Precursor Composition Characteristics During Ceramic Membrane Fabrication

In this work, the influence of inorganic low-cost precursor compositions (viz. kaolin, feldspar, saw dust, sodium metasilicate and boric acid) has been investigated on the morphological characteristics (such as average pore size and porosity) of the ceramic membranes that were fabricated using dry compaction method and saw dust as the pore forming agent. In order to do so, kaolin to feldspar ratio has been varied from 0.48 – 2.05 and binder composition has been varied from 10 – 15 wt.%. For an inorganic precursor formulation of kaolin 38.77 wt.%, feldspar 23.03 wt.%, saw dust 8.19 wt.%, sodium metasilicate 15 wt.% and boric acid 15 wt.%, the sub-micron range low-cost ceramic membranes (95.8 nm average pore size and 13.95% porosity) have been achieved as a key novelty. With minor variations in the precursor composition, the microfiltration membranes could be converted to ultrafiltration membranes without undergoing any complex surface reactions or polymeric coatings. An empirical model has been as well developed to quantify the variation of dependent variables on the membrane characteristics.