Comparative study of Malaysian and Nigerian kaolin-based ceramic hollow fiber membranes for filtration application

Ceramic membrane has gained increasing interest in water filtration application due to its inherent characteristics. Low-cost clay materials are preferred to fabricate an efficient and cost-effective ceramic membrane. Among the ceramics, kaolin displays better mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties. However, natural properties of kaolin vary from different studies. Hence, cost-effective Nigeria (NK) and Malaysia (MK) kaolins were compared to study the fabrication of kaolin hollow fiber ceramic membrane for filtration application. The effects of kaolin loading concentration (34 and 37 wt. %) and sintering temperature (1200, 1350, 1400, and 1500 °C) on kaolin membrane fabrication were also studied. XRF studies indicated that the hydroxyl silica and alumina compositions were 56.76wt.% and 41.97wt% for NK and 55.21wt.% and 40.33wt% for MK. MK exhibited intense kaolinite peak with a broad range of particle size distribution. The mechanical stability of kaolin ceramic membrane increased with the increase of sintering temperature and kaolin loading concentration. Membrane morphology also varied with MK and NK. Interestingly, 34wt% kaolin at a sintered temperature of 1350 °C produced ceramic membrane with a high water flux. A similar trend was observed in both MK and NK, where the flux of 34wt% MK and NK are 565 and 460 L/m2h, respectively.