CERAMIC MEMBRANES FOR NOVEL SEPARATIONS

A number of advances have been made in the fabrication and performance of supported ceramic membranes. Improvements in techniques for the synthesis of particulate sols containing particles in the range of 4 to 10 nm in diameter are discussed. Several deposition techniques for the fabrication of supported ceramic membranes via solgel technology are examined, including slipcasting, filtration, coating, and permformation. Supported titania membranes have been fabricated and both liquid phase permselectivity and gas phase permeability experiments have been performed. Results of the liquid phase separations indicate that these membranes are characterized by a molecular weight cutoff value of approximately 200. Gas phase permeabilities reveal that Knudsen diffusion is not the only mechanism of transport through these membranes.