Improvement of the fabricated and application of aluminosilicate-based microfiltration membrane

Abstract

Aluminosilicate composite materials are characterized by their low cost, nontoxicity and facilely shaped. Membrane prepared using aluminosilicate composites have the following disadvantages: large mean pore size and low mechanical strength. To address these limitations, flat microfiltration membranes were fabricated using SiO2 powder and aluminosilicate composite as raw materials. The membrane performance was optimized by regulating the particle size of SiO2, the ratio of SiO2 to aluminosilicate composite (s/a), and the type of chemical admixture. The X-ray diffraction results indicated that the crystalline SiO2 particles were favorable for the preparation of membranes with higher bending strengths. The decreasing particle sizes of SiO2 (1.33–0.15 μm) decreased the pore size distribution. The bending strength of the membrane reduced with an increase in s/a, while was effectively enhanced by adding dissolved Na2SiO3. The optimized inorganic microfiltration membrane could also catalyze ozone to remove 100% of benzophenone-4 with an initial concentration of 10 mg L−1 within 15 min, and TOC removal by 52.67%. This paper presents a revised method for preparing an inorganic microfiltration membrane, which is an increasingly promising material for water treatment because of its low cost, low energy consumption, and high catalytic performance.