Improvement of the fabricated and application of aluminosilicate-based microfiltration membrane

Aluminosilicate composite materials are characterized by their low cost, nontoxicity and facilely shaped. Membrane prepared using aluminosilicate composites have the following disadvantages: large mean pore size and low mechanical strength. To address these limitations, flat microfiltration membranes were fabricated using SiO₂ powder and aluminosilicate composite as raw materials. The membrane performance was optimized by regulating the particle size of SiO₂, the ratio of SiO₂ to aluminosilicate composite (s/a), and the type of chemical admixture. The X-ray diffraction results indicated that the crystalline SiO₂ particles were favorable for the preparation of membranes with higher bending strengths. The decreasing particle sizes of SiO₂ (1.33–0.15 μm) decreased the pore size distribution. The bending strength of the membrane reduced with an increase in s/a, while was effectively enhanced by adding dissolved Na₂SiO₃. The optimized inorganic microfiltration membrane could also catalyze ozone to remove 100% of benzophenone-4 with an initial concentration of 10 mg L⁻¹ within 15 min, and TOC removal by 52.67%. This paper presents a revised method for preparing an inorganic microfiltration membrane, which is an increasingly promising material for water treatment because of its low cost, low energy consumption, and high catalytic performance.