Effect of different heat treatments on oxidation-bonded SiC membrane for water filtration

The porous SiC-based membrane has proved its validity in microfiltration membrane fabrication, but application is limited due to its high fabrication cost. In this study, the oxidation bonding technique was used to fabricate a SiC microfiltration membrane. The oxidation behaviour exhibited during different thermal treatments was related to pore morphology, and ultimately membrane permeance. Corrosion properties of the oxidation-bonded SiC specimens were also studied. We have found that a membrane made by coating an oxidation-bonded SiC layer over a clay-bonded SiC support and sintered at 1000 degrees C for 3 h could make a defect-free, corrosion resistant microfiltration membrane with pure water membrane permeance above 700 LMH per bar over the 1 h operation time. The membrane has a narrow pore size distribution, with an average pore size of 78 nm.