Effect of pore former (saw dust) characteristics on the properties of sub-micron range low-cost ceramic membranes

Abstract

This article addresses the effect of pore former (saw dust) characteristics on the properties (pore size and porosity) of low-cost ceramic membranes. Two approaches were considered to reduce the average membrane pore size. Firstly, the variation was observed by varying saw dust concentration in the overall membrane mixture and lowest achievable pore size was noted. Secondly, further reduction in the pore size was achieved by reducing the saw dust average particle size. Dead-end filtration mode was utilized for the determination of pore size, and porosity was determined using Archimedes' principle. Permeabilities of the membranes were also calculated. The pore size and porosities of the membranes significantly reduced with variation in the saw dust characteristics. Mathematically, the relationship between variations in average pore size and porosity with saw dust average particle size and concentration variation fits well with the predicted empirical model.