Nanoporous MgAl₂O₄ coating on porous Al₂O₃ support by aerosol deposition method for organic polymer filtration membrane

Abstract

Ultra- and nanofiltrations are utilized for the separation of polymers and proteins. In this study, we have investigated the application of the MgAl₂O₄ membrane produced by the aerosol deposition (AD) method for the separation of a polymer. A MgAl₂O₄ ultrafiltration membrane on the porous Al₂O₃ support layer was produced with intentionally leaving nano-sized pores instead of a completely dense membrane. The filtration performance was investigated by removing 1 million molecular-weight polyethylene oxide (PEO) from water, and the rejection rate with the AD MgAl₂O₄ on Al₂O₃ support to PEO was ∼44 % at the differential pressure of only ∼0.1 MPa, which was three times higher than our previous report by the dip-coating MgAl₂O₄ on Al₂O₃ of ∼14 %.