YUAN Yuan, LI Qiaoyun, HE Yan, WANG Kaituo, CUI Xuemin
(Guangxi Key Lab of Petrochemical Resource Processing and Process Intensification Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, Guangxi, China)
Abstract: Geopolymer inorganic membrane was synthesised using metakaolin, water, and water-glass according to a mixing ratio model (SiO2/Na2O=1.3, Na2O/Al2O3=0.8, SiO2/Al2O3=2.96 and H2O/Na2O=19). After mechanical stirring, the geopolymer slurry was cast in a circular mould with the diameter of 40mm, cured at 60 ℃for 24 h and then demoulded. Geopolymer-based inorganic membrane formed a homogenous structure and had a narrow pore size distribution from about 11.88-26.82 nm. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), ultraviolet spectrophotometer, compressive strength test and water flux test characterized various properties of the geopolymer-based inorganic membrane. The geopolymer-based inorganic membrane has shown greater potential than the organic membrane for application in wastewater treatment due to its stability and narrow pore size distribution.
Key words: metakaolin; geoploymer; inorganic membrane; water treatment