The effect of sacrificial templates on the pore characteristics of sintered diatomite membranes

Abstract

Recently, porous ceramic membranes have become an interesting subject due to their outstanding thermal and chemical stability. Among the many types of ceramics, as diatomite is inherently porous and irregular, it is worthwhile to investigate the relationship between the characteristics of sacrificial templates and porous microstructures after sintering. Therefore, sintered diatomite membranes were prepared with 8 µm solid polymer spheres, 20 µm solid polymer spheres, wheat starch, and light clusters of aggregated carbon nanotubes while varying the amount of sacrificial template material by dry pressing at 25 MPa. The results show that the characteristics of the sacrificial templates, e.g., the rigidity, directly affect the pore characteristics and accordingly determine the permeability of sintered diatomite membranes. Also, we discuss whether the largest pore sizes and average pore sizes of the sintered diatomite membranes reflect the actual permeability appropriately.