Preparation and characterization of a thin continuous faujasite membrane on tubular porous mullite support

The progressive increase of VOC emissions, the growing information of their hazardous nature, and the resulting increasingly more restrictive environmental regulations in the industrialized countries have induced the development of different methods for VOCs abatement. Membrane separation process is a good alternative to gain this purpose. In this paper, a high quality faujasite membrane was prepared. Tubular porous mullite supports were fabricated from Kaolin clay by a temperature-programmed calcination treatment, following a leaching treatment. As observed in SEM photographs, the porosity of the support increased during the leaching treatment. The NaX zeolite powders were prepared hydrothermally and characterized with XRD and SEM. The best crystalline powder and the corresponding starting gel were respectively used for seeding treatment and hydrothermal crystallization of a thin, continuous and fully covering X-type zeolitic top layer on outer surface of the cylindrical support. The membrane was characterized with XRD and SEM.