Fabrication and Characterization of Silica Based Ceramic Composite for Filtration Applications

A new ceramic composite was fabricated from biowastes with the potential of finding the application in water treatment. A composite with silica being the base material, activated carbon and eggshell nanoparticles as the filler material was fabricated using the gel casting technique. The fabricated composite was characterized with the aid of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDX analysis), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The adsorption capacity of the composite was investigated with UV-vis spectroscopy. Morphology analysis revealed the presence of porosity in the composite sample. Presence of activated carbon, silica and eggshells particles was confirmed through XRD and EDX analysis. The adsorption isotherms were well fitted with Langmuir isotherms. The maximum adsorption capacity was found to be 635.46 mg/g for methylene blue adsorption on the surface of the composite sample. By the filtration through the composite, the reduction in Total Dissolved Solid (TDS) concentration from 1100 ppm to 284 ppm was observed, also filtration made water from slightly acidic to alkaline.