Development of ceramic membrane for microfiltration application in biotechnology field

A new composition of precursors was identified using china clay, quartz and calcium carbonate to fabricate the microfiltration membrane. The membrane was fabricated by pressing method and sintered at 1000 degrees C. Various characteristics of membrane such as porosity, average pore size, water permeability and chemical resistance were evaluated. Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) was conducted to identify the elements present in the membrane. The porosity, water permeability and pore size of membrane are found to be 37%, 2.88 x 10(-3) L/m(2).h. Pa and 555 nm respectively. Corrosion resistance test indicates that the membrane can be subjected to acid and alkali based cleaning procedure.