Fabrication of natural ball clay ceramic membrane using pore former and additive agents based on modified slip casting technique

Abundantly available natural ball clay can be an alternative to expensive ceramic material in fabricating ceramic membrane. The local natural Malaysian ball clay has been chosen as the main precursor for elaborating the ceramic membrane. Since additive agents and pore-forming agent are crucial in obtaining the desired properties and performances of the ceramic membrane, the objectives of this research is to study the effect of additive agents (PEG 600 and Dispex N40) at different sawdust percentage applied (0%-40%) in fabricating natural ball clay ceramic membrane. Flat rectangular ceramic membrane with a dimension of 9.0 +/- 0.5 cm(2) in area and 2.0 +/- 0.2 cm in thickness was obtained through a modified slip casting method, followed by sintering at 1,000 degrees C for 2 h. The ceramic membrane properties were then characterized using scanning electron microscopy, Archimedes method, mechanical strength and water permeability test. From the results obtained, the fabricated ceramic membrane of CM2 in the presence and absence of additive agents shows improved properties of 7%-10% thermal shrinkage, 36-38% in porosity, 8-12 MPa in compressive strength and 40,000-70,000 Lh(-1) m(-2) bar(-1) in water permeability.