Sol-gel alumina coating of wire mesh packing

Abstract

Wire mesh packings have seen increasing applications to multiphase processes in recent years. Despite the high surface area, open structure and thermal and chemical resistance, wire mesh packings have a complex geometry which hinders some chemical applications, including changes of surface properties through application of a uniformly adhesive coating. In this work, the sol-gel deposition method of alumina coating ceramics was investigated for the first time on stainless steel wire mesh by using Dixon rings as example. The kinetics of deposition during the hydrolysis and polycondensation was followed for a range of initial composition of the coating such as the ratios of Al2O3 to water, acid content, polyethyleneimine binder content and the number of deposition cycles. Well-adhered alumina with a thickness up to 20 μm was successfully deposited. The molar ratios of acid to alumina and alumina to water of 0.25 and 0.01, respectively, 48 h of the aging time, 96 h of the mixing time and 2.1 g/L of polyethyleneimine binder formed a free of cracks coating of controlled thickness alumina on the Dixon rings.