EFFICIENCY OF ULTRAFILTRATION CERAMIC MEMBRANES FOR TOXIC ELEMENTS REMOVAL FROM WASTEWATERS

Abstract

The preparation and characterization of porous ceramics multilayer ultrafiltration membrane is described. The first step consisted to prepare high-quality macroporous support in Moroccan clay. The choice of this material is based on its natural abundance and thermal stability.The microporous interlayer was then prepared by slip casting from zirconia commercial powders and finally the active UF toplayers was obtained by sol-gel route using ZnAl2O4 and TiO2 mixed sols. The performance of ultrafiltration membrane (TiO2 (50�20– ZnAl2O4 (50� was evaluated by pores diameter, water flux, thickness and molecular weight cut off (MWCO). The water permeability measured for this composite membrane is 9.42 L/(m2•h•bar), the thickness is less than 700 nm, the pore diameter is centered near 5 nm and the MWCO was about 4500 Da.

Keywords

• ultrafiltration membrane
• ceramics multilayer
• Moroccan clay
• heavy metals
• colorants
• wastewater