Development and properties of ceramic membranes for liquid filtration

: Tudyka, S.; Pflanz, K.; Stroh, N.; Brunner, H.; Aldinger, F.

Abstract
Porous ceramic membranes are used in numerous applications for the treatment of liquids. As an example, membranes composed of oxides are successfully applied in the process of clarification of naturally-cloudy apple juice. The paper reviews the preparation and properties of commercially-available membranes for liquid filtration. Special emphasis is laid on the sol-gel-preparation of membranes having pore diameter < approx. 0.1 mu m ("ultrafiltration membranes"). Moreover recent results are presented on the preparation of a novel nanoporous membrane material with pore diameter < 4 nm. Findings prove, that the Al2O3-TiO2 mixed-oxide membrane is an appropriate candidate for nanofiltration applications.