Preparation and Characterization of Inorganic Hollow Fibers

Abstract

Inorganic membranes can be classified into ceramic materials and carbon-based materials. This chapter reviews the recent progresses in inorganic fiber membranes with an emphasis on the structure, properties, fabrication approaches, and characterization. The structure of hollow fiber membranes has a substantial effect on their performance and applications. Their structure can be classified into asymmetric, symmetric, and sandwich morphology. Ceramics membranes with a wide range of insoluble oxides are considered excellent materials for membrane fabrication due to their outstanding chemical and thermal stabilities, high water flux, and high temperature resistance. Ceramic hollow fiber membranes can be classified into three main categories: perovskite oxides, zeolites, and metal-organic frameworks. Researchers have attempted to develop efficient inorganic fiber membranes with high flux and selectivity, defect-free support, and reduced cost by using carbon-based materials. Recently, carbon nanotubes and carbon nanofibers have gained great attention due to their unique physicochemical properties, such as excellent chemical, thermal, and mechanical stability, good dimensional stability, and electrical conductivity.