Effect of sol size on nanofiltration performance of a sol-gel derived microporous zirconia membrane

This paper reports the effect of sol size on nanofiltration performances of sol–gel derived microporous zirconia membranes. Microstructure, pure water flux, molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) and salt retention of zirconia membranes derived from zirconia sols with different sizes were characterized. Thermal evolution, phase compo-sition, microstructure and chemical stability of unsupported zirconia membranes (powder) were determined by thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption–desorption and static solubility measurements. Results show that nanofiltration performance of zirconia membranes is highly depen-dent on sol size. The sol with an average size of 3.8 nm, which is smaller than the pore size of theγ-Al2O3 support (pore size:5–6 nm), forms a discontinuous zirconia separation layer because of excessive penetration of sol into the support. This zirconia membrane displays a MWCO value towards polyethylene glycol higher than 4000 Da. A smooth and defect-free zirconia membrane with a MWCO value of 1195 Da (pore size:1.75 nm) and relative high retention rates towards MgCl2 (76%) and CaCl2 (64%) was successfully fabricated by dip-coating the sol with an appropriate size of 8.6 nm. Zirconia sol with an average size of 12 nm exhibits colloidal nature and forms a zirconia membrane with a MWCO value of 2332 Da (pore size:2.47 nm). This promising microporous zirconia membrane presents sufficiently high chemical stability in a wide pH range of 1–12.