Preparation of Ceramic Hollow Fiber Membrane Using Phase Inversion and Sintering Technique

Abstract

Alumina hollow fiber membrane with asymmetric structure has been developed using phase inversion technique followed by sintering process. The formation of asymmetric alumina hollow fiber was influenced by a phenomenon known as hydrodynamically unstable viscous fingering. A desired morphology of the ceramic hollow fiber membrane, that consists of 52 % of finger-like and the rest is sponge-like structure, is tailored by controlled parameters during membrane fabrication process. The result shows that the ratio of alumina/PESf should be reduced to 6. At this ratio, the finger-like structure can be easily formed with inner and outer diameters were 1.11 mm and 2.05 mm respectively. From the given thickness, approximately 243 µm of finger-like length can be developed originating from the lumen of hollow fiber.