Silicon carbide ultrafiltration ceramic membrane sintered by ultra-low temperature oxidation

Silicon carbide (SiC) ceramic membranes are promising components for the efficient treatment of various wastewaters in membrane-based techniques. However, the high preparation temperature and then the high production cost inhibits their large-scale application. Here, an ultra-low temperature sintering process was proposed to prepare SiC ultrafiltration membrane. When the ceramic membrane was heated at 600 °C in air, a selective layer comprised of α-SiC and β-SiC formed without the emergence of crystalline silica. The thickness of the membrane layers was determined by the solid content and viscosity of the slurry. Well-dispersed SiC grains and homogeneous-distributed pores formed in the selective layers when using 100 nm SiC powders. The water flux and emulsion flux were investigated to verify the permeability of the ceramic membrane. Thus, this work proposes an energy-saving process for the preparation of SiC UF membrane and achieves the preparation of SiC UF membrane at ultra-low temperature.